Challenger - Omega Ruby: Nuzlocke Novel
by alexbrowne92
Summary: The Pokemon world used to be peaceful. A place where people would battle their creatures to decide who was the best trainer. Now, battles are fought until the last Pokemon standing and the world is rampant with crime. Regions such as Kanto are on the verge of banning Pokemon trainers completely, as the authorities take a last resort to stop the criminal gangs like "Team Rocket".
1. Prologue - Chapter I

_I am currently writing what is turning out to be a novel for my final year project at University. I have decided to post my progress, chapter by chapter, on the site in hope of getting some feedback on my work._  
_I decided to take the "Nuzlocke" challenge on Pokemon: Omega Ruby and turn my adventure within the game into a dramatised novel, a darker and more realistic take of the Pokemon world._  
_This is the first time I have wrote anything like this, so would appreciate some feedback or any pointers._

_Hope you enjoy it!_

_ps. I currently plan to post up the full prologue (A backstory of the events that took place before the game starts) within two weeks, then a further chapter each week after that._

* * *

**Prologue**

Chapter I

"I want to become the best Pokemon trainer the world has ever seen!"

As a child, Erik's dream was like any other. He wanted to beat the Elite Four, defeat the current World Champion and become the best Pokemon trainer on the planet.

Growing up in the region of Kanto was tough – travel between towns was dangerous and crime ran rampant. But the main reason was that he rarely got to see his father, a gym leader in the distant land of Hoenn.

His mother tried to persuade him to take a different path, wanting her son to become a doctor or a scientist, anything other than a Pokemon trainer.

"Everyone wants to capture Pokemon and use them as pets or to battle with them Erik. But not very many people get that far before they get their licence taken away." She would frequently say to him.

"But Daddy is one of Hoenn's eight gym leaders, he'll make sure I become the best!" Was always Erik's reply. But as he got older and saw his father less and less, his positive outlook on life and youthful enthusiasm was slowly curbed.

Into his teenage years Erik still studied for his Pokemon licence, which involved series of tests a potential Pokemon trainer must take to prove they are worthy of becoming one.

"As soon as I'm old enough to take the tests I'll pass them, my sixteenth birthday is only a year away now," Erik promised himself.

* * *

"Team Rocket have struck again!" blasted the news presenter one chilly Autumn morning, late into Erik's fifteenth year of life.

"This time a group of six Rocket members unleashed their Pokemon, believed to beZubats, on a shop owner in Saffron city, using the distraction to steal cash and store products. Police are investigating the latest incident in what is an ever growing crime wave."

"Wait, the shop they stole from is "Taylor's Pokemon Accessories", that's a two minute walk from here!" Erik blurted out, shocked that the crime wave was occurring so close to where he and his mother lived. "I'm going to take down Team Rocket and save this city, I'll be a hero!" Erik thought to himself "All I need to do is pass my test and get my licence."

It wasn't just Kanto that was facing problems from the criminal gang, but the neighbouring Johto region too, amongst many others.

"These gangs are everywhere nowadays," His mother would remark each time she saw a news story on the subject, "They use their Pokemon as weapons, and your common man like that poor shop owner cannot stand against them."

Erik had resolved to fix the problem himself.

* * *

It was the day of his sixteenth birthday, and Erik stared at the test centre through his ocean blue eyes. He noticed how plain the building looked, located on the edge of the Viridian city, the test centre was made with plain white stone, and although it was a rather large building, there were few windows. Erik went to run his fingers through his hair until he remembered he was wearing the hat he had gotten today as a present from his mother.

"I'll always wear this hat to remember you when I'm rich and famous" Erik informed her as he left the house that day. He reached into his lime green backpack (another present from his mother for his birthday) to withdraw his provisional licence and strolled up to the front entrance. He pushed his way through the small red door and entered the test centre, whereupon he was immediately greeted by a tall man with short brown hair who looked to be in his early thirties.

"Hello! May I see your provisional licence please?" The man said before grabbing it out of Erik's hand. "Ahh, Erik. Yes I remember, your test is today. I'm Nigel and will be your examiner." Nigel extended his hand which Erik grabbed and shook, his examiner seemed to be so enthusiastic that his burly frame could burst at any second.

"Ahh nice firm handshake" Nigel remarked "Please follow me to the waiting room."

The walk to the waiting room took place without further conversation as Erik's focus remained firmly on the task at hand. Walking at his own pace as he refused to even attempt to match Nigel's large strides, they embarked through a series of small corridors. The whole building having painted white stone walls with chestnut brown wooden doors dotted here and there. Nigel stopped at one such door and opened it, showing Erik into a small room. Again the stone walls were painted clean white, with the only feature of the room being the red cushioned sofas – of which there were two.

"This is the waiting room, the door opposite this room leads to where your test will take place." Nigel informed Erik with his deep, booming voice. "I know you may already know the ins and outs of a Pokemon licence and the test, but let me explain them to you anyway just to make things clear. If you pass today and obtain your licence, you can begin battling and capturing Pokemon. Obviously, nowadays Pokemon battles are a case of last man standing, and if someone loses all their Pokemon in a battle, they lose."

All of this was information Erik already knew, but he continued to listen anyway. "If a trainer loses all of their Pokemon, and they have none remaining in storage – their licence is forfeited. This means that they cannot retake the test for a further year." Nigel took a breath before continuing, he did like to speak quickly. "If a trainer loses a licence three times, or fails the test for a third time, they cannot try and obtain one again as they have proven themselves unfit to handle Pokemon."

Erik took a moment to process the information, all of which he had already read in books but hearing it said aloud was another thing entirely. Nigel gave Erik a few seconds before continuing..

"Finally, you will be given a device to put around your wrist that cannot be taken off. This lets us know if you are breaking any rules regarding Pokemon. The device will vibrate when it detects another trainer's device within a certain distance, and if you wish to challenge that trainer to a battle press the middle button on the device. Obviously they can do the same to you, and if either trainer rejects the battle they will face disciplinary action and be forced to explain why they rejected it. So in short, if you are challenged to a battle you have no choice other than to accept!" Nigel seemed to find that funny, his laughter like an explosion.

"Okay that's all, sorry for going on! I'll just go and prepare your test for you now."

Nigel departed the room giving Erik a lot to think about, he didn't know that he would be forced to battle if another trainer wanted to, what if his Pokemon were injured after a long battle before and someone took advantage of this? He shook his head, "Any doubt in my mind will make me fail this test."

* * *

Before long Nigel returned, "Your tests are ready, there will be three of them." Nigel's deep voice echoed around the room. "The first test will be a Pokemon knowledge test, the second a task to show whether you can care for a Pokemon or not. The third will be a mock battle. Obviously you will have to pass all three of these tests to obtain your licence. Good luck, and follow me."

Erik followed Nigel out the room and back into the corridor. Nigel headed straight to the door opposite, which did indeed lead to the test area. The space in which his exam would take place was infact a giant, poorly lit room. In the centre was a battle stage, although with a hole in the middle of it, with a golden podium on either side, the podium to the right containing three Pokeballs – spherical objects which housed a single Pokemon. The podium to the left containing only two of these balls. Nigel pointed to the podium on the left hand side, requesting Erik to ascend onto it.

"Ready for the first test? It's General knowledge! First question – which of these types are effective to use against a water Pokemon? – Fire, Electric or Rock?"

"This is easy." Erik thought to himself, "Electric." He shouted confidently.

"Second question, which of these Pokemon can fly and is commonly found in caves? Zubat, Caterpie, or Weedle?"

"Zubat." Erik said, a lot calmer this time.

A minute passed and Erik had answered all ten questions thrown his way. "You only needed to get eight out of the ten correct to pass but you managed all ten. Congratulations!" Nigel boomed "Now for round two."

The ground seemed to shake from under him, causing Erik to grab onto the podium. He looked back up to the centre of the room, where the hole that had previously been there had been replaced by a small white round table. An injured bug was was lying there, which Erik identified as a Weedle. The Pokemon was surrounded by three items.

Erik slowly walked up to the injured Pokemon and noticed the three items on the table were in fact a potion, a handful of small red berries in a bowl and a Pokeball.

"This Pokemon is injured, starving and craving to be given a home!" Nigel shouted "Your task is to help him in that order."

"This is horrible" Erik thought to himself. "Did they injure the Weedle themselves just to test a potential trainer?"

He set about his task despite his thoughts. Firstly, he applied the potion to Weedle's wounds which instantly began to heal. After which he began feeding the Pokemon the bowl of small red berries, known as "Oran berries", to quench it's hunger.

Finally, Erik opened up the Pokeball. Usually he would have to throw the Pokeball at the Pokemon, hoping that the creature he was trying to capture would accept it's new home, otherwise it would break free of it's spherical prison. But this Weedle already seemed to accept Erik, so went inside without hesitation.

"He's accepted you, that's a good sign!" Nigel exclaimed overenthusiastically as always, "Well done, task two achieved with perfection. Now for your final test."

Erik was now brimming with confidence. "Battling has always been my biggest strength," he knew, "Time to get myself a Pokemon licence!"

Without being told, Erik walked back up onto the podium and was stunned to see Nigel unmoved from the edge of the arena.

"Aren't you going up there?" Erik inquired.

"No," Nigel responded. "I am not to be your opponent."

Erik heard a door slam from the other side of the room, but it was too dark to see who had come out of it. A figure cloaked in the shadows moved towards the podium in a calm, confident manner. The newcomer stepping up onto the opposite podium. As the figure stepped into the light beaming up from the podium, it revealed a man in his forties with dark, thinning hair and ocean blue eyes that matched Erik's perfectly.

"Hello son"

"Dad?" came Erik's stunned reply. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to test out your abilities for myself, and as a gym leader the test centre allowed me to do so."

Nigel interrupted the conversation "Erik vs Norman, begin!" His voice so deep it even echoed around this much larger room. Without hesitation, Erik's father picked up one of the Pokeballs and threw it into the arena. Out came a small flying Pokemon, known as Spearow. As Erik went to reach for one of his two Pokeballs, Nigel interrupted again "No! Use your Weedle!"

Erik was stunned, flying Pokemon were strong against bug types, leaving his father with a clear advantage and seeing as Spearow was also much faster, could attack before Weedle even had time to think.

"Spearow, peck him!" Came the shout from Norman, his Spearow responding instantly, flying in for the kill.

Erik quickly shook a thousand thoughts out of his head, and forced himself to focus on the battle.

"Quick Weedle, use string shot and slow him down!" But it was too late, Weedle was already laying lifeless on the floor.

Erik couldn't believe they battled to the death in the test centre like they did in the outside world, something strange was going on.

He reached for another Pokeball. Choosing the one to the left, he threw it onto the stage. A Mankey had laid inside, the small furry Pokemon that was quick to anger.

"No.." Erik thought, "Mankey is a fighting type Pokemon, also weak to flying attacks…"

"Spearow, peck him again!" Came the shout from his father.

"Mankey, scratch him!" was Erik's counter

However, the Spearow was too quick again and Mankey was down on the floor. Erik thought he had lost his second Pokemon.

But the Mankey proved him wrong. Enraged, the fighting type leapt to the floor, moving to scratch the bird, hitting his target. Spearow was taken aback, but moved in and pecked again, finishing the weakened Mankey off.

"Final Pokemon now. I can't lose this…" Erik whispered, before picking up the final Pokeball on his podium.

He threw the ball onto the stage, out came another bird pokemon, but with more meat on it than the Spearow. Erik's Pokemon was a Pidgey.

"Flying vs flying, and his Spearow has taken a hit from Mankey already. I can do this!" Erik's thought to himself again, and it proved true. Although the Spearow was faster and managed to peck at Pidgey, a gust of wind summoned from Erik's Pokemon's wings was enough to finish Spearow off.

Norman picked up another one of his Pokeballs and threw it onto the stage, out came a Caterpie.

"Yes!" Erik;s thoughts screamed inside his head. "A bug Pokemon. This time I have the advantage!"

He instructed his Pidgey to send a gust of wind at the small green caterpillar. The attack proving too much for the Caterpie and left his father down to his final Pokemon.

"Very good son. But not good enough I'm afraid." Norman taunted, speaking to his son for the first time since the battle started, before picking up his final ball and throwing it. A Rattata coming out.

"Hmm.." Erik considered. "That small purple rodent is a normal type, which means neither him nor Pidgey have the advantage here."

"Bite him Rattata!"

"Use gust Pidgey!"

Pidgey was faster, striking first. However, the Rattata recovered to sink his teeth into Erik's last hope. The two Pokemon returned to their side of the arena, followed by the two trainers instructing their Pokemon to use the same moves again. Pidgey again hit Rattata which sent the small rodent flying into Norman's podium, the Pokemon slouching against the ground. Erik allowed himself a smile, holding himself back from bursting into a cheer of sheer elation before a movement caught his eye, the Rattata was alive and on his Pidgey, sinking his fangs into the bird, crushing Erik's dreams. He had failed the test.


	2. Prologue - Chapter II

Prologue - Chapter II

"Taylor's Pokemon Accessories." Erik remarked as he strolled past his place of work the past two years as he walked the streets of Saffron city with his mother.

Since losing to his father two years ago, he had cut all contact with him. He hated his father for destroying his dream.

Becoming a Pokemon trainer was no longer his goal, he had given up on that. The cheery enthusiasm he had as a child was also now completely diminished.

Erik worked as a shop assistant in the local accessory store, helping to sell all sorts of Pokemon products such as themed tables, cushions, dolls and other similar items. He hoped to one day become a doctor or a scientist. Just like his mother had always wanted him to.

"How was work today?" Erik's mother asked him in her usual softly spoken, sweet tone.

Before Erik could reply his mother continued "I'm so glad you're going for a proper career rather than trying to become a Pokemon trainer now. That path would only lead to more pain, your father always told me how much loss you experience as a fully fledged trainer." She was playing with her pearl necklace as she spoke, the one Norman bought for her before Erik had even been born.

"Norman ruined that path for me, don't even mention him." Erik felt anger rising at the thought of his father.

"I wish you would refer to him as your father." His mother sighed, before realising that was a fruitless request.

Suddenly, a blue and purple flying creature zoomed past, knocking her to the floor.

Erik spun around to see another Zubat heading straight for him. Diving out of the way he began moving towards his mother until a Rattata jumped up and bit him on the leg. With the Zubat he had previously dodged coming back around and knocking him to the floor.

"Help!" Came a cry in a softly spoken voice. But it was hopeless as Erik tried to free himself of the Rattata's grip on his leg. To no avail.

A man dressed all in black grabbed Erik's mother and ripped the necklace right off. Running away before recalling his Pokemon.

Erik sprinted after him, running through one of the dark, dank alleyways of Saffron city. He rounded a corner whereupon two Zubats flew at Erik, razor-sharp fangs bared.

"Growlithe, use ember!" A shout came from behind Erik.

Suddenly a bright orange flame roared past him, hitting one of the Zubats, causing the other to fly away. By the time Erik's eyes adjusted to the returning darkness of the alleyway, he could see no sign of the man that attacked and stole from his mother.

"Another victim of a Team Rocket attack, these incidents are getting more and more frequent." A policeman strolled up beside Erik, a Growlithe by his side. The small fire breathing Pokemon with black and orange striped skin. Erik bolted, running back to his mother as fast as he could to make sure she wasn't hurt.

Unable to see clearly through the tears clouding his vision, all he could feel was an immense shame.

* * *

It had been two years since he was last here, and in that time the test centre hadn't changed one bit.

As soon as he stepped through the small red front door of the test centre a familiar face greeted him.

"Erik! You're back!" Boomed Nigel. His chubby face lighting up at the sight of the young man taking the test that day.

"Hello Nigel, I hope there's no nasty surprises this time like my father making a reappearance?" Erik's toneless voice carried through the corridor.

"Not this time I'm afraid, your test was booked at such short notice he couldn't make it in time."

"Good." Erik said bluntly.

"This way then." Nigel instructed Erik ahead of leading him to the waiting room.

As Erik sat there he recalled what had happened the previous week, the night after he and his mother were attacked by a member of Team Rocket.

Erik was sat in his living room holding his provisional Pokemon licence, "I'm going to do it," he informed his mother. "I'm going to retake the test," he said with an unerring conviction.

"But Erik you…" His mother tried to say before Erik cut her off.

"I know mother, I know what happened last time. But you were attacked and I couldn't save you. I was on the floor useless and unable to help you."

"Okay, if it's the path you want to choose, then so be it." Came the response from his mother.

"Really? You've been trying to dissuade me from this path all your life and now you give in that easily?"

"You're old enough now to make your own decisions, and I know once your mind is made up on something then there's no changing it. If you've gone through all this and still want to be a trainer, then this truly is the path for you."

"Thanks mum." Erik smiled before giving his mother a hug, it meant so much that she was behind him in this.

"All ready!" Nigel's reverberating voice snapped Erik's attention back to the present.

The examiner led Erik back into the familiar test room, which was exactly the same as it was two years ago – down to the hole in the middle of the arena floor.

"You could've improved the lighting" Erik remarked.

Nigel ignored the comment and pointed to the podium. Erik ascended and eyed the two Pokeballs before him, wondering if they contained the same Pokemon as they did last time.

"First up, Pokemon knowledge quiz! Different questions this time around for you," Nigel's voice echoed around the room as it had done the previous time he was here.

"Question one: Which of the following Pokemon is a Poison type? – Caterpie, Zubat or Rattata."

Erik paused, the names of the latter two Pokemon raised memories of his mother being attacked as well as reminding him how rusty he was in regards to anything Pokemon related. "Well I was bitten by a Rattata and didn't get poisoned," he thought to himself, "and I'm quite sure Weedle is the poisonous bug, not Caterpie."

He decided upon his answer, "Zubat!" he shouted.

"Question two: How much does a Pokeball cost at any normal priced shop? – $100 Pokedollars, $150 Pokedollars, $200 Pokedollars?"

"Erik replied instantly "$100 Pokedollars!"

"Incorrect, it's actually $200!"

Erik was taken aback, "Of course they cost $200.. What is going on with me?"

"Question three!" Nigel continued, "Which of the following types are strong against normal typed Pokemon? – Fighting, fire or poison?"

Erik was again confounded. "I used to know everything about Pokemon, now I've forgotten even the simple things such as this." He was shocked with himself, two years cutting any thought of Pokemon out his life had caused him to forget everything he had learnt.

"Okay lets think, what would harm a Rattata most. Would it be a strong fighting attack? Shooting it with fire? Or poisoning it? – Wait, I've got it!" He thought before confidently announcing, "Poison!"

"Incorrect again, the answer was fighting, one more incorrect answer and you fail the test!" Nigel declared, "Are you feeling okay Erik? You aced this part of the test last time."

"Just get on with asking the questions!" Erik snapped, he was infuriated with himself.

"Okay, okay!" Nigel responded, clearly startled. "Question four: What type of Pokemon is a Mankey? – Normal, ground or fighting?"

"I remember this!" Erik exclaimed louder than he should have, "Fighting!"

"Correct, well done! Question five: Which of the following is a restriction of being a Pokemon gym leader? – You can only use one type of Pokemon, you cannot challenge trainers to battle outside your gym, or, you cannot capture new Pokemon."

Erik was stunned, he couldn't remember the answer. "I know gym leaders hold badges, if a trainer defeats them they obtain a badge off the leader. A trainer who defeats all eight leaders in a region, and therefore gets themselves all eight badges can then challenge the Elite Four of a region. But after that my mind had gone blank.."

"I'm going to have to rush you Erik." Nigel said, looking concerned.

"Can only challenge trainers to battle within own gym." Erik blurted out.

"Oh no Erik. I am sorry. The correct answer is that they can only use one type of Pokemon. I'm so sorry Erik you have failed the test."

Erik fell to his knees. Unable to comprehend the fact he had just failed again – what had happened? Before he would have easily have been able to answer those questions. A potential trainer was only allowed to fail the test three times before being banned from taking the test again. Erik had just failed for a second time. He would have to study and practise relentlessly until he became even better than he ever was. He also knew that next time, his father would be there waiting for him.


	3. Prologue - Chapter III

"The Johto region bans all capturing, battling and the keeping of Pokemon, apart from special cases." Blasted the television on the day of Erik's nineteenth birthday, "Pokemon trainers have been asked to hand in their wrist devices and licences, followed by the releasing of any Pokemon they own back into the wild. Failure to do so will result in prosecution. Rumours circulate that the neighbouring region of Kanto could soon follow in Johto's footsteps."

Erik was perplexed by what he was hearing, how could they ban the use of Pokemon? "Mum have you seen the news?!" he called out.

"Oh yes, there's been rumours going around for quite a while that Johto would do that. It's because of organisations like Team Rocket who are using Pokemon as weapons for crime. They say that crime has gotten so bad over there that the only way to stop it is by banning the use of Pokemon."

"Yes but crime is just as bad here in Kanto!" Erik gasped before composing himself after remembering where he was, the red door to the test centre was right in front of him. His mother had come along this time to offer him support. She knew if he failed this time, there wouldn't be a next time.

"You'll be fine Erik," she insisted again. "You've been training for this non-stop for almost a year now, there's no way you'll fail this time." She said with a smile.

Erik's mother wasn't allowed inside the test centre without a provisional licence, so hugged him goodbye at the door and wished him good luck one more time.

She was right, Erik had been studying full time for the last year, making sure he could answer any question that was thrown his way. He had also been preparing to battle his father again, there was no way his father would miss this.

As he watched his mother leave, a man clad all in black approached him, from under a black cap with the letter R in pink on the front he whispered "If you fail the test for a third time, there is another way."

Erik felt his anger flare up, something that was happening quite often of late. Before replying, "I will never join you, I will never join Team Rocket."

"Just something to think about." Came the reply from the Team Rocket member before he skulked away.

It all made sense now. Team Rocket had taken control of the test centre.

He remembered hearing on the news that the crime wave began four years ago when the criminal gang's membership soared.

The challenge of the tests, the amount of strange occurrences during Erik's tests. Team Rocket made sure people failed, leaving them no choice but to join the group if a person wanted to ever become a Pokemon trainer as they held access to the devices and licences.

* * *

For a third time, Nigel greeted Erik as soon as he entered the building. "Hello my friend!" Nigel's voice reverberated around the room with a beaming smile entering his chubby face. "How have you been Erik?!"

Erik wondered if Nigel was a member of the Team Rocket, or whether he was just unaware of what was actually going on.

"Fine, sorry to be rude but can we get straight to it please." Erik replied, voice toneless.

"Okay, with me then! We've prepared early for you so let's go straight to the arena!"

As they entered the room, it was exactly the same once again. This time Erik ascended the podium without being instructed to, and nodded at Nigel to begin the first test.

"Okay, Pokemon knowledge test! I can see you want to get straight to it so we'll fly through this. Good luck!" Nigel's glowing smile remained on his face as he prepared the first question. "Right, which of the following Pokemon is a flying type? – Zubat, Kakuna or Mankey."

"Zubat."

"Very good. What colour is a Caterpie? – Yellow, green or white."

"Green."

"Brilliant, much better than last time!" Nigel said delightedly.

The next eight questions went as the first two did. Erik answered straight away, getting the question right each time.

"Ten out of ten!" Declared Nigel, "Well done Erik. Back to your best I see."

"Better than that." Came the toneless reply. He found himself unable to look Nigel in the eye anymore.

The ground rumbled from underneath them.

"Time for the second test!" Nigel roared as an injured Pidgey appeared in the centre of the stage, surrounded by a Pokeball, a block of tofu known as a PokeBlock, and a potion.

"Erik, please move towards the injured Pidgey. It needs healing, feeding and to be given a home, as before." Nigel sounded incandescent despite the fact there was an injured Pokemon almost near death, lying not five metres away from him.

Erik moved to the wounded bird, it's wing had been torn with the flying type Pokemon having crimson red scratch marks on her body.

Erik stroked the cheek of the Pidgey, "You'll be okay, trust me." He whispered to the injured Pokemon, before immediately getting to work. Spraying the potion first over the scratched body, and then over the torn wing. The Pokemon's wounds started to heal.

"Science these days is remarkable isn't it?" Nigel expressed, but Erik wasn't paying any attention.

Next he grabbed the green cube known as a Pokeblock and fed it to the Pidgey, after which the Pokemon instantly perked up and chirped. However, Erik wasn't done. Opening the Pokeball for the Pidgey to immediately pop inside.

"Fantastic!" Nigel boomed, "You know what comes next – the third and final test!"

Erik made his way back to the podium, his Pidgey back to fighting strength and was now flying around his side of the arena. A door from the other side of the room opened then closed, his father had arrived.

Out of the darkness and into the light of the podium Norman stepped, looking exactly the same as he did the first time they battled, even wearing the same green jumper and blue jeans.

"How's your mother?" Norman said in a calm, considered tone.

"Fine." The anger in Erik's voice was clear. "Why do you insist on battling me, why can you not let me take the test like anyone else?."

"Maybe if you beat me then I will tell you son." Norman's voice remained calm and confident as he threw out his first Pokemon, out popped a Spearow.

"Ahh," Norman remarked, "Spearow again. Seeing as you have a Pidgey this time, neither of us has the advantage."

Spearow flew at Pidgey, pecking at his opponent, before Erik's Pokemon responded by blowing him away with a gust of wind. Both Pokemon got up seemingly unharmed and went at each other again after which both looked decidedly tired and injured.

"Spearow, one more peck should do it!" Came the cry from Erik's father. His Pokemon obeying, the peck landing. Pidgey struggled to get back up.

"Pidgey, you can do this, use sand attack!" Erik roared. Upon hearing the voice of the man who saved her life, Pidgey flew upright and launched sand straight into Spearow's eyes.

"Spearow, one more peck will definitely finish that Pidgey off." Norman's voice still remaining calm. The Spearow flew in for the kill with Pidgey having landed back on the floor, too weak to take to the air. Erik closed his eyes, not wanting to see Pidgey fall, then he heard it, the deathly scream of a bird.

Erik forced his eyes open – to see Pidgey still alive with his father's Spearow on the floor unmoving. The sand in it's eyes blinding him.

"Wow!" Shouted Nigel, "The sand in Spearow's eyes caused it to miss, leaving Pidgey to use the last of it's energy to tackle Spearow into the ground! Impressive, Erik, that Pidgey only managed to keep going because of you."

Norman grabbed another one of the Pokeballs on his podium and threw it, with a Rattata coming out. The small purple rat baring its large fangs at his adversary. Even injured, a Pidgey was still faster than a Rattata. Allowing her to launch a final gust of wind at her opponent before the Rattata finished off the job that Spearow should have.

Erik's next pokemon turned out to be a Caterpie, the green string-like bug with it's huge black eyes was slower than Rattata as the rodent sank it's fangs into the bug. Caterpie replied by shooting string out of her mouth, encasing the Rattata, slowing it down hugely.

Whilst Rattata struggled to get out of it's prison of string, Caterpie flew in and tackled it into the ground. Rattata returned with a tackle of it's own before Caterpie landed the finishing blow, tackling the rat into the podium. This time Norman's Pokemon stayed down after crashing against his podium.

Norman's calm manner visibly disappeared as he threw into the arena his last Pokemon. Out of the ball came a Zubat. Erik gasped, feeling a new wave of anger surge through his body, the person he hated most using the Pokemon he hated most against him.

As soon as Zubat entered the arena it sank it's terrible fangs into Caterpie, the bug not getting back up.

Erik picked up his final Pokeball, Zubat was at full health and now fired up. Erik felt his hands shaking, whether it was through anger or anticipation he was not sure but he knew that this was his last chance at becoming a Pokemon trainer. He would never join Team Rocket, would he?

Erik shook the thought from his head and threw his last Pokeball. A Mankey emerged, leaping up and down. Mankey was a fighting type, weak against Zubats combined poison and flying. Although Erik wasn't sure whether Zubat knew any flying attacks. He certainly hoped not.

To Erik's delight, Norman ordered his Zubat to try and poison his Mankey. Which failed. Mankey responded by scratching the hideous creature, causing Zubat to fly back and screech – a deafening cry.

Mankey composed himself, charging towards his opponent. Scratching the Zubat twice between a wild bite from his foe.

Erik glanced at his father and saw Norman looking flustered.

The Zubat was out of control and for once there was no drama. No farce. Just a straight up victory for Erik and his Mankey as the Zubat fell lifeless to the ground.

"We have a winner!" Screamed Nigel, seemingly delighted that Erik had beaten his father.

"Well done son, you deserved that." Norman smiled, "I stood in your way because I wanted test you. I didn't want you to go out into the world and experience the pain of losing your Pokemon, experience losing a licence and having your world crash down around you unprepared. I wanted to make sure you were ready."

"You've already caused my world to come crashing down around me!" Erik roared.

"I'm sorry, but one day you will understand son."

"I don't want to hear another word from you!" Erik had reached boiling point. His shaking now was through pure anger. He watched as his father disappeared out of the room and back into the darkness, without a further word.


	4. Prologue - Chapter IV

Chapter IV

"Erik have you heard the news?!"

Blaze jumped back at the sight of Erik's mother bursting into the room looking flustered. Nearly knocking his trainer over.

Two months had passed since Erik passed his test. As a way of congratulating him, his father sent him a Torchic from the Hoenn region, the small fire breathing chick and Erik quickly became close with Erik naming his new friend, "Blaze".

"They've finally done it, Team Rocket have finally done it!" Erik's mother continued, "The Kanto region has followed in the footsteps of Johto and banned the use of Pokemon!"

Erik looked at Blaze, he had given his Pokemon a nickname because he felt it tightened the bond between the two of them, and planned to do it to each future Pokemon he captured. His Pokemon weren't to be just tools used for battles, they would also be his friends.

"Can we not move to another region?" He spoke in a surprisingly calm tone to his mother, despite feeling so helpless inside.

"Every other region has banned the use of Pokemon too, Kanto was the last." His mother looked close to tears, seeing her son's dreams fade away right in front of her.

"Hoenn hasn't." Erik replied, feeling a fire rise inside him at the thought of taking his father's gym badge.

"Hoenn is the last region that hasn't. But all the trainers are trying to move there. So in response they've banned all immigration!"

"Hoenn is an island, surely theres a way we can sneak onto it?"

"That device around your wrist is also used as a tracker Erik. Besides, we are not breaking any laws!" Erik's mother looked horrified at the suggestion, and Erik knew quickly to drop it.

"So theres no way into Hoenn?" He replied despondently.

"There is one way" a voice drifted into the room from the hallway, followed by a man stepping into the room wearing a trademark green jumper and jeans.

"Norman.." Erik hissed.

"Please call your father by his title not his name Erik," His mother shot, "Me and your father have been talking for a while, he knew Kanto was going to ban Pokemon so he's bought us a house in Hoenn. He is a Gym leader there therefore he has special privileges."

"The only way you can still be a trainer is to move to Hoenn son. Team Rocket have created a monopoly on Pokemon usage here, you think they are going to stop? No, it's only going to get worse." Norman said, and Erik knew that he was right.

He would have to move out of Kanto to continue his dream. What he didn't know however, was how far away was Hoenn from banning the use of Pokemon?

Hoenn was an island which tended to isolate itself from the rest of the world. Erik didn't know anything about how bad the crime was over there or if the region even had any gangs like Team Rocket.

"Okay. I guess it is the only way." Erik admitted, secretly happy he now had a chance to defeat his father on his own turf..

"There are some things you need to know about the Hoenn region, it is very different from Kanto." Norman informed him.

"What?" Erik said bluntly.

"Firstly, the basic rules are still the same. If you lose a battle and have no Pokemon still alive within storage, you forfeit your licence." Norman stopped and considered a moment before continuing, "Wild Pokemon work differently too. Because of the sudden mass influx of trainers, rules have been made so that trainers can now only capture the first Pokemon that they encounter in an area, no others."

"Interesting.." Erik thought to himself.

"Also on the topic of wild Pokemon, you cannot go around killing them, you can only battle a wild Pokemon in self defence. So, if it springs up on you first. No hunting down wild Pokemon in order to make your own stronger as they gain battle experience killing wilds." Another pause, "Finally, you will not get or lose any money from winning or losing trainer battles – only Gym battles – and any money you happen to make yourself."

"Tough rules." Erik thought aloud.

"Yes, but necessary after all the new trainers coming into the region, we have to protect the wild Pokemon and the local populace."

"I've heard enough, when are we moving out mother?" Erik asked rudely.

"The delivery truck is on it's way, it will be here in about an hour. Norman would you please help us move out?" She asked her ex-husband sweetly.

"Sorry but I must leave and return to my Gym. I'll see you in Hoenn, Erik."


	5. New Home, New Life

Chapter One – New Home, New Life

"To become the Pokemon champion, we will need to travel throughout the region of Hoenn."

Erik envisioned the island of Hoenn as he spoke, with it's sandy beaches, warm oceans and the rough mountainous terrain towards the centre.

"We have to go to the eight gyms around the land, to defeat each gym leader in order to obtain their badge. After a trainer has obtained all eight badges, they are allowed access into the Pokemon league, where they would be met by the Elite Four. If the trainer defeats them and then the current Pokemon champion, they become the new champion." He turned his head to look Blaze in the eye, "That is our goal."  
The delivery truck grinded to a halt, Erik grabbed hold of his Torchic tightly to stop his Pokemon being crushed by the boxes they shared the back of the truck with. A blinding light engulfed the rear of the lorry as a big muscular Pokemon employed by the delivery company opened the truck's rear doors. The Machoke was instantly shoved aside by a woman with long dark hair and light blue eyes.

"Erik! You're here at last!" Came the shrill cry from his mother. As Erik climbed out of the van she hugged then dragged him inside the house before he could even get a look at his new town. Blaze followed as fast as his small legs could take him.  
Upon entering the house, Erik saw two more Machoke moving furniture around, the house was nearly set up. The ground floor of the house contained two rooms. To the back of the house was an open plan kitchen preceded by the living room which contained a table, chairs, sofa, television and bookshelf. The smell of the newly painted white walls filling Erik's nostrils as he ran up the staircase to see his new room.

Immediately after entering he noticed a huge Snorlax doll on a rug in the right hand corner, the giant blue and white creature was surrounded by ruby red cushions. In the bottom left hand corner of the room was Erik's single bed. With a desk, bookshelf and clock in the upper left corner, Erik moved over to set it to the right time, 3 o'clock.  
"All moved in!" Came the shout from his mother from the bottom of the stairs, "Your father's friend is in town, Professor Birch is his name. He runs the Pokemon laboratory. You should go and pay him a visit Erik, he may be able to help you on your journey."

Erik could see she was wearing her favourite red top and blue dress combination, with her deep brown hair now up in a ponytail with a bow in the front. Blaze followed Erik down the stairs, his bright orange and yellow feathers illuminating the stairway as they made their way down.  
"Hopefully." Erik smiled, before deciding he would indeed pay Birch a visit.

* * *

Littleroot town. A very small town containing only three buildings. To the north of the town lay Erik's house on the left, and what he presumed was Professor Birch's house to the right. Both houses were made of solid stone, each topped by a plain wooden roof. To the south was the Pokemon laboratory, again made built with concrete but this time with a yellow tiled roof.

The town itself was surrounded by thick bushes and trees, as most of Hoenn's towns were, too thick and impassable for a human. Pokemon lived freely there undisturbed by any trainer, leaving the only way out of town to the north via a pathway.

* * *

Erik strolled over to the Pokemon laboratory and pushed his way through the door. The sharp cold air of the lab hit in hard in the face as soon as he walked in. As his eyes adjusted to the room he noticed that the lab was full of machinery and other Pokemon related tools. Erik could see a few of the machines were run down after years of Pokemon research, looking around he saw no rooms other than the single large one he stood in now.

At the far end of it stood a man in his thirties or maybe his forties in a lab coat, with jet black hair and wearing glasses which amplified the size of his dark eyes to make them bulge.

As Erik walked over to the man he heard the sound of his footsteps echoing off of the white ceramic tiles. In fact, he noticed everything in the lab was a pure, clean white. From the floor to the walls to the roof, with the only exception being the machines which were operating loudly.

"Hello young man, how may I help you?" Said the man wearing the lab coat, in a stern tone.

"Hi, I take it you're Birch?" Erik replied, causing the man to chuckle.

"No, no, I'm just his assistant, Birch hasn't come in today. I would check his house if you're looking for him." The man smirked.  
Without a further word Erik left the building embarrassed. Taking the advice, he headed straight to the third and final building in Littleroot, Birch's house.

After a couple of knocks the door was opened, but not by Birch. Instead by a woman with long curled hair, wearing a pink flowery dress.  
"Hello, you must be our new neighbour, Erik. I'm Mrs Birch." The lady said with a kind smile. "My husband isn't here at the moment but I know we would both like for you to meet our daughter. She's around the same age as you and helps out her dad with Pokemon research, she's upstairs at the moment, go on up."  
"Thank you." Erik said unconvincingly, the ground floor of his neighbours house was exactly the same as his own, apart from not having a sofa. Erik quickly moved upstairs into the daughter's room, and stopped abruptly.

Before him stood the most beautiful woman that he had ever laid eyes on. Her emerald green eyes finding his, leading her mouth to form a dazzling smile. She was wearing a crimson red sleeveless top, with white shorts and black tights. Around her waist was a yellow and black bag, matching the colour of her heavy walking shoes.

She swished her hair backwards, which was light brown and parted at the front. The back was tied up with a bow and the rest flowing down to her shoulders.

"Are you just going to stare or are you going to introduce herself?" She said with a wink that made Erik's heart flutter.  
"Erm, err," Erik stumbled over his words, "I'm Erik, I've, err, just moved in."  
"I guessed you were our new neighbour. I'm May, by the way." Her voice was high pitched and innocent. "My dad told me a new boy was moving in next to us, I was hoping he was nice so we can become friends."

That sentence made Erik's heart drop, she just wanted to be friends? But she was so perfect…

Seeing Erik was staying silent, May carried on, "B-but that's just silly isn't it, I've only just met you." She giggled and hid her face with her hands, but Erik could see her blushing underneath them.

"Oh no I forgot! I was supposed to go and help my dad with his Pokemon research!" She bolted from the room before Erik could say anything more.

* * *

Erik sat on his bed, unable to get May out of his mind. He had only met her a couple of hours ago, but she was all he had thought about since. The cute voice, the way she laughed, the emerald beauties that were her eyes.

He tried to shake the thoughts from his head, to no avail, deciding instead to leave the house and go north to Route 101 hoping to find Birch and possibly see May again.

The towns of Hoenn were linked by routes, which came in various shapes, sizes and terrain. Each route was allocated a number to identify it by, and the rules of Hoenn stated each trainer can only catch one Pokemon per route, and that must be the first Pokemon that you encounter on it.

* * *

"Help!" Came a cry as Erik entered Route 101, the grassy path that linked Littleroot town with neighbours Oldale town.

His eyes were drawn to the scene. A man with greying hair and matching coloured chinstrap beard was running in circles, being chased by a wild Poochyena.

"Blaze, save him!" Erik shouted to his Torchic, who responded instantly. His Pokemon shooting a ball of fire at the Poochyena. The wild hound retaliated by switching his attention to Blaze, slamming it's body into him. Blaze recoiled but recovered by shooting another flame ball at the hound, finishing it off.  
"You really are the spitting image of Norman." The man exclaimed as he dusted himself down, "Your father and I grew up together. We have known each other since our school days. I'm Professor Birch by the way, and thank you for saving me." The old man smiled, although Erik had already guessed it was Birch before the man had even spoken by the lab coat he was wearing.

"With battling skills like that, and seeing how much your Torchic respects you, I can tell that you truly are your fathers son." The professor stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts, before continuing, "I know how I can thank you. Come back to my laboratory a little later, whilst I prepare a little present for you. My daughter May is on Route 103 at the moment, just north of Oldale town. She always needs a helping hand with her research if you need something to do to pass the time."

And with that, the Professor was off as if nothing had happened, before Erik could even manage a goodbye.

"Runs in the family I suppose." He thought to himself, before he began trekking through the Route in order to reach Oldale town. The journey through the Route was disappointingly uneventful, but a relief for Erik was that no wild Pokemon had sprung out on him. If one had he would have to take his dad's advice, "To catch a wild Pokemon you must first prove yourself worthy of being it's new trainer. Then once it has accepted you as it's trainer, throw a Pokeball at it, which will act as the Pokemon's new home". Before he remembered he had no Pokeballs.

* * *

"Hi there, I work at the Pokemart!" A man wearing a blue apron over a red and white chequered shirt declared, running up to Erik as he entered Oldale town. The Pokemart employee's chocolate brown hair was long enough to almost cover his eyes.

"From what I can see you're a novice trainer, so I will help you out with some useful advice being the kindhearted man that I am."  
"Okay." Erik said cautiously, considering for a second whether he should try ignoring the man and walking on. In the end, he stayed to hear what the exuberant man had to say.  
"First of all," The employee started, pointing over to a building in the upper left of the town, "That's a Pokemart there, just look for the blue roof. We sell all kinds of Pokemon goods, from potions to Pokeballs. If you ever need any Pokemon gear come to us!"

The man then reached into the front of his apron and pulled out two purple and white sprays, known as potions. These were used as healing items and if sprayed on a Pokemon's wounds would help cleanse them.

"I would also like you to have these as part of a special promotion!" Before handing the two potions to Erik. "Also, over there is the Pokemon Centre." He said pointing to the building in the bottom left of the town, with the same pure white stone as the other buildings in the town, but this one was differentiated with a scarlet roof.

"You can identify a Pokemon centre by it's red roof. If you go into there they will heal any injuries your Pokemon have picked up for free. Be wary however, each Pokemon Centre has limited uses . They are on tight budgets you know. Anyway that's all from me, have a great time in Oldale town, my friend!"  
The man ran off back to the Pokemart. Erik followed him into the shop.

Erik noticed that Oldale was only slightly larger than Littleroot town. With two houses made from wooden logs in the corners that the Pokemart and Pokemon Centre didn't occupy. In the middle of the town lay a blooming flowerbed, full of buttercups, daisies and tulips. The flowers were ringed by a wooden fence, and looked to have been well kept by the local populace.  
"Hello again my friend!" The employee greeted him once more as Erik entered, "How can I help you today?"  
"I was just looking for some Pokeballs, please." Erik replied.  
"Sorry, all out of stock. We do however hav-" He was about to continue before Erik interrupted  
"Nevermind I only had enough money for a couple of Pokeballs." He then walked off, not wanting to be dragged into yet another conversation with the overly happy employee.

"Rude." He heard the employee say as he left the building, but Erik didn't care. He was in a rush, he wanted to go north up to Route 103 to see May again.

* * *

Erik ambled onto Route 103, cautious of his new surroundings. The Route seemed to ascend steeply in places until it reached the summit of a hill. Where May was standing.

"Hey there!" May shouted down to him.

"Hello." He managed to squeeze out as he walked up to join her, still nervous and uncomfortable around the woman he found so beautiful. Her reflection glistening in the pond she was standing next to.  
"My dad gave me a Pokemon to help with my research. Say hello to my Mudkip!" May said excitedly, moving aside to show off a pale blue creature. The Pokemon letting out a quiet growl as it sighted Erik.

He had never seen a Mudkip before, the Pokemon's jet black eyes staring straight at him. From the colour of it's skin and the fin on it's back, Erik could tell the creature was a water type Pokemon. Meaning it would be strong against his Torchic's fire type.

"Why don't we go ahead and have a quick friendly battle. Although an unofficial one so if one of our Pokemon looks to be taking a beating then we call it quits?" She asked, to which Erik nodded in response without thinking.

"Stupid." He thought to himself, "Blaze doesn't stand a chance here."

"Great!" She screeched, "Mudkip. Go get him!"

"Blaze, your fire will be weak against it, so use your claws instead!" Erik ordered his Torchic, who responded instantly.

The Mudkip didn't like being clawed at, retaliating by slamming her body into Blaze. Erik's Pokemon followed by scratching at the water creature again. Mudkip slammed back into Blaze who was thrown back, teetering on the edge of the pool. Erik knew if his Pokemon fell into it, he was dead.

Mudkip's animalistic instincts took over, throwing her body once again into Blaze to try and push him into the pool.

Blaze dodged out the way causing a splash as Mudkip crashed into the water.

May's Pokemon recovered quickly in her natural environment and leapt out to again throw her body at Blaze. This time Erik's Torchic reacted quickly, blasting fire at the oncoming Mudkip.

"Mudkip come back!" May screamed, ending the battle there and then.

"Seeing as I lost the battle, I'll use my potions to heal our Pokemon. Well done Erik, I'm impressed. You're quite the trainer, no wonder my dad is keeping his eye on you."  
"He is?" Erik blurted, more with surprise than anything.

"Oh yes. He sees great potential in you." She said, eyes widened. "I can see how strong your bond is with your Torchic, it's so impressive." She giggled at the end of her sentence, the sound music to Erik's ears.

"I'm going to head back to the laboratory now. I'll catch you later, Erik." She smiled as she strutted off, Erik wanted to say something back but was lost for words, finding himself staring into the pond for a moment, before suddenly remembering Birch had told him to come back to the lab for a present.  
Erik jumped back down over the ledges that made up the hilly rise after May.

"Erik? What's wrong?" She exclaimed with a confused look on her face as she saw him running after her, clearly startled.  
"Your dad asked me to go see him at the laboratory, so I thought I would walk back with you."  
"Oh okay." She replied still looking taken aback.  
They began walking back to Littleroot town through Route 101, an awkward silence engulfing the both of them as they trekked through the grassy terrain of the path between towns.

The journey seemed to go on forever without a word spoken between the two. Until they eventually reached the lab.  
"Good work Erik, May is quite the trainer you know." Birch afforded Erik a smile as his daughter told him of the battle that had played out. "I already knew your potential when your father told me you had beaten him to obtain your licence. But to see you fight in person, saving me from a wild Pokemon attack and then beating my daughter in battle…" He stopped to pull out a rectangular red device from his labcoat.

"This here is a Pokedex. A very rare device that will identify any Pokemon you encounter, as well as recording the data of any Pokemon that you capture with a Pokeball, which would help me with my research and benefit us both I think." He said with a cheeky smile. "I see you going very far indeed Erik."  
"Thank you professor." Erik's smile beamed at Birch, it meant a lot to him that someone as knowledge about Pokemon as Birch had such belief in him.  
"I have a Pokedex too!" Chirped May. "Here, have ten Pokeballs to help you out Erik, seeing as you're helping us out by collecting Pokedex data." She smiled as she handed over a pouch of ten balls. "What are you going to do now?"  
Before Erik could reply, Birch butted in. "He's going to Rustboro city of course, that's where the first gym is." The professor then laid his eyes on Erik. "To get there you will have to go through Oldale town, to Petalburg city and then through Petalburg woods."  
"My dad's gym is in Petalburg." Erik's heart dropped as he realised he would have to eventually challenge his dad one day, the fifth gym of the eight.  
"Yes, but you cannot challenge him until you have the previous four badges, as much as you want to."  
"I know. I think I will go home and get some sleep and leave for Rustboro in the morning." Erik said before strolling off, a foul mood now overcoming him at the thought of encountering his father again. His journey would begin the next day.


	6. Reunion

Chapter Two – Reunion

"Your father will be so proud when he sees you setting off on your own journey." Erik's mother spoke through a veil of tears, as Erik stood on the verge of Route 101. She grabbed him, giving him a hug farewell.

"I'll be back before you know it." Erik smiled. Leaving Littleroot town and his mother behind him. He entered Route 101 this time with Pokeballs and therefore the ability to catch the first Pokemon that springs out at him.

The long grass bristled at Erik's knees as he slowly moved through the route, not wanting to be caught unaware by any wild Pokemon leaping out at him like Birch was the previous day.

"Erik!" A sudden high-pitched shout reached his ears, startling him.  
His eyes darted up from the tall grass to find May.

"Come here, I want to show you something," She exclaimed, as Erik made his way over. She grabbed Erik's Pokedex and fiddled around with it. When she handed it back the screen was now showing a map of the Hoenn region.

"That's the Pokenav feature." She continued, "Another cool feature of the Pokedex is If you see a Pokemon in the tall grass, the device will scan it and tell you what the Pokemon is!"  
A sudden rustle in the grass near to them caught their attention, with a furry grey Pokemon tail poking out from the thicket. Immediately Erik pointed the Pokedex at it, which changed the screen in the middle from a map of the region to a picture of a grey hound with razor sharp fangs and deep red pupils. The Pokedex identified the Pokemon as a Poochyena.  
"Come on, make that your first capture in Hoenn Erik. Sneak up on the Poochyena and capture it!" May said giving Erik a gentle shove forward, Blaze in close proximity.

The closely-knit pair began slowly edging towards the tail poking out of the tall grass, creeping ever closer as quietly as they could manage.

They reached a point where Erik felt he could extend his hand and grab the tail, but as he reached into his pocket for a Pokeball, the Poochyena jumped out baring fangs coated with cold ice.

Blaze reacted instantly, saving his trainer by quickly blasting the wild Pokemon away with a ball of fire. Erik followed up his Torchic's actions by throwing a Pokeball at the Poochyena, successfully capturing the wild Pokemon.

"Wow!" May shouted, sounding surprised. "I've never been able to sneak up on a Pokemon like that before, and you managed it first time."  
"I couldn't have done it without Blaze." Erik replied before stroking his Torchic's feathered head.

"I forgot you name your Pokemon, what are you going to call your Poochyena?"

"Ice." Erik replied instantly, remembering the fear that filled him at seeing the Pokemon's fangs encased with glistening cold.

"Suits him perfectly!" May exclaimed. "Well Erik I'm going back to my dad's lab for now, I will see you soon, I hope." She said with a smile that looked almost sad.

"Goodbye for now, May." Erik's smiled, his heart pounding.

* * *

Erik went back to the Route 103, where he had battled May the day before, looking to capture another Pokemon to add to his team.

As soon as he stepped foot onto the route he was suddenly set upon by a gull-like creature who swooped down on him. Immediately, he dived out of the way, realising the aggressor was a wild Wingull.  
Blaze again leapt to his rescue, scratching at the creature with his claws. Erik knew what to do from last time, throwing a Pokeball and capturing the Wingull.

"I'm going to call you Gully." Erik spoke to the red and white Pokeball in which his new Pokemon now lived.

* * *

A quick return to the Pokemon centre in Oldale town saw the nurse there tell him he only has one more use of the healing facilities this month, due to them being a small town on very limited finances.

Erik left Oldale with Blaze, Ice and Gully in tow, all fully patched up and healed, he entered Route 102. A flock of Wingulls flying overhead as he did so. "Did you want to join them, Gully?" He spoke softly to his own new Wingull, who in turn hopped onto his shoulder and nipped at Erik's hair.

"A captured Pokemon respects their new trainer as they managed to defeat and capture them in battle." Norman's old words rang in Erik's ears.

As he rested by a pool of water, realising the truth in his father's words, a red and white bug shot string directly at him, or so he thought.  
"A Wurmple." Erik said to himself, as he saw Gully getting entangled in the string the bug was shooting.

Ice charged at the Wurmple, knocking him into the lake.

Seeing the Pokemon drowning, Erik threw a Pokeball at it, capturing and adding another member to his team.

"Well obviously I'm going to call you String." He laughed to his new friend as he released the bug from it's Pokeball.

* * *

"Hey you!" A shout came at Erik from across the road, "I'm Calvin and I challenge you to a battle!"

Erik's youthful rashness overcame him. Even though he couldn't refuse a direct challenge from another trainer, he didn't want to anyway. This would be his first official battle since obtaining his licence.

"I accept your challenge!" Erik exclaimed, noticing the trainer challenging him was a couple of years younger than him and must've only just passed his test. He also made note of Calvin only having one Pokeball attached his belt.  
"Go Zigzagoon!" The youngster shouted, throwing the Pokeball, which released a brown and white striped cat-like creature.

In reply, Erik nodded to Ice. His Pokemon confidently plodding out to accept the challenge.

Ice charged in, enclosing icy fangs around the foe. The Zigzagoon tried to wriggle and squirm it's way out of Ice's grasp but failed to do so. Ice had won his first fight with relative ease.

"No, my career is over." The boy said in a voice barely above a whisper, as he fell to his knees. "That was my only Pokemon, and I don't have any in my storage either. I have to retake my test and everything…"  
"You challenged me." Erik said bluntly, before walking on without a further thought for Calvin.  
"Hey you! I'm up next." Another boy the same age as Calvin said running up to Erik. Again the challenger had only one Pokeball on his person. "My names Rick, by the way."  
"Erik." Came the reply, before he turned to Ice, "Again?"  
Ice barked happily before again strutting out to meet the challenge. Rick sent out a Wurmple.

The fight was again over before it had barely started. Ice's frozen fangs proved too much for the bug, ending another rookie trainer's career..

"This is too easy." Erik thought to himself. "Two battles, two wins, and barely a scratch on any of my Pokemon."

* * *

Gully flew up to the tree and picked the berries off with his beak, flying back down then placing the small crimson food into Erik's palm.

Erik pocketed most of the berries to make sure his Pokemon would have food later on, but allowed the four members of his team to share a couple between them. String especially enjoyed the small round foodstuff, named an Oran berry, seemingly smiling as he gulped it down.

"Ram into it!" Came a cry from behind the group, moments before String was sent flying into the berry tree after being rammed by a Poochyena.

"I'm Allen and I will be your opponent." Came a voice from a trainer around Erik's age, wearing a yellow jumper and blue shorts. "Again Poochyena!" He commanded his Pokemon to attack String again, who was struggling to stand.

As Allen's Poochyena neared the kill, charging into the stunned Wurmple, it barred it's fangs. Not encased with ice like Erik's own Poochyena, but razor sharp all the same. A blast of water sent Allen's Pokemon flying back, before the Poochyena chose to ram Gully next, the Wingull retaliating with another blast of water from it's mouth.

Poochyena wasn't finished. It again charged at Gully, but Erik's Pokemon flew up high to avoid it and a final blast of foamy water erupted from Gully's mouth to finish off Allen's creature.

"I'm not finished yet!" Allen shouted, before throwing a Pokeball.

A Tailow emerged, the small blue and white bird able to match Gully's flight. "Ram his Wingull into the tree!" Allen screamed, with his Tailow duly obliging. Gully was slammed into the tree trunk, pinned up against it by Tailow's claws. Allen's Pokemon began furiously pecking at Gully's face.  
Erik saw Gully struggling for life, peck after peck after peck from the opposing Tailow. It was all happening too fast for Erik to grab Gully's Pokeball and recall him. Tailow stopped for a split second and Gully slouched down, Erik gulped.

Gully weakly lifted his head up to throw the Tailow off with a powerful blast of water, leaving Allen's bird lifeless on the floor.

"I thought I could beat you." Allen said solemnly

"Why did you use those underhanded tactics and ambush me whilst we were eating?" Erik snapped.

"Because Hoenn is the only region left allowing Pokemon trainers, and even then they plan to ban the use of Pokemon if the trainer doesn't have a gym badge very soon. I have to get that badge quickly, through any means necessary."

Erik walked on without saying anything more, Allen's words reverberating around his brain, shocking him.

* * *

String recovered his energy by eating some more of his favourite Oran berries. The ambush by Allen had knocked the wind of of him, but he looked to be recovering. He was fit enough to battle Tiana at any rate.

The female trainer had approached Erik as he reached the end of the Route, "Time for a battle!" She had declared to Erik, marching up to him with her creamy blonde hair swaying in the wind, wearing a deep blue overcoat which was so long it partially covered her slightly lighter blue skirt.

"So you wait at the end of the Route, to engage trainers whilst their Pokemon are tired and weak?" Erik had said

"Whatever works best." She countered, before telling her Zigzagoon to attack. Erik nodded at String who crawled forward. "Tiana, by the way." She continued.

The two Pokemon cautiously circled one another, waiting for the other to make the first attack.

"You can do this String!" Erik called out to his Wurmple, who's big black eyes lit up at his trainer's encouragement.

String charged into Tiana's Pokemon, before her Zigzagoon retaliated by slamming it's body back into String. Erik's Wurmple recoiled but kept going, slamming into the Zigzagoon with all his might, but it was no use. He had barely weakened his opponent with the two blows.

Tiana nodded at her Pokemon, who charged into String, sending him flying backwards. As String struggled to his feet, Erik recalled him and shouted at Ice to finish off the battle.

The Poochyena enclosed his icy fangs around Tiana's Zigzagoon, defeating it easily, then proudly strutted back to Erik. Tiana was left clutching the body of her defeated creature, devastated.

* * *

"Erik, wait!" A high pitched voice, almost a squeal, came from behind him as he neared the end of Route 103, with Petalburg city in sight. He spun on his heel to find himself staring at two beautiful pools of green. Her eyes always seemed to stare straight into his soul.

"I saw you walking along." May's smile lightened up the darkening evening.

"H-Hi." Erik stumbled over his words, dismayed at her beauty.

"Don't be shy Erik." May said, grabbing his hand. Erik's heart fluttered at her touch, but before he could fully enjoy it, she dragged him to the side of the pathway. "Sit down here, the Beautifly fly past at this time of night."

She pulled him down to the edge of the dirt track that connected Oldale to Petalburg city, on some freshly trimmed grass. They both looked up at the dimly lit sky together, waiting for the winged insects to fly by.  
"How did you find Route 103, Erik?" She asked with her eyes fixed above.

"We didn't run into much trouble, I didn't even have to use Blaze!" He started, "You saw me catch Ice, remember? My Poochyena?" He asked but continued before she could answer, "Well he is a force to be reckoned with, Gully fought well for me too. String on the other hand, is still getting to grips with battling other Pokemon, but he will come around." Erik stroked his Wurmple on the head as he spoke. All four of his Pokemon were sat next to him.

"I'm glad you're getting along with your Pokemon, are you going to see your dad whilst you're here?"

"No." Erik replied, firmly.

"I think you should, he is your father after all."

"I said no." Erik's reply was firm once again.

"Okay, I didn't mean to cause any offence."

"I'm sorry, my relationship with my dad is a touchy subject." Erik smiled at her, getting a slight grin back in return.

They sat in silence for a while, staring up at the sky where the first stars were coming out. True to May's word, a flock of Beautiflys flew past, graceful in their movements as they glided above the two.

"It's getting late, I must be going." May said as she stood up, "I hope I see you soon." She smiled at him then walked away. Back to Littleroot town, Erik presumed.

* * *

Erik walked out onto the streets of Petalburg, the door to the Pokemon Centre sliding shut behind him.

The city was a lot larger than Oldale or Littleroot, there were houses dotted all over the city. The centre of Petalburg contained a Pokemon Centre, a Pokemart and a few houses. Linking the city with the next route, Route 104, was a concrete pathway. A large wooden house with purple tiled roof at the edge of the city, with Norman's Gym next to that.

Erik's gaze snapped to two men having just finished a battle on the concrete path, outside the Gym.

"You battled well." Erik overhead the victorious trainer say to his defeated opponent, playing with the collar of his green jumper.

"I always lose to you, I've only just got my trainers licence too." His opponent said as he slouched off, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"Why if it isn't my son." The winner shouted over, as he spotted Erik. "Tt's cold and dark out here, come inside my Gym, let's have a chat."

Erik followed his father into the Gym. It seemed to contain a single, very plain room, with wooden flooring and brick walls. The only noticeable items of furniture within the place were the pink cushions located in the centre, where Norman was now sat.  
"Sit." Norman extended his hand to the nearest cushion, but Erik waved it away.

"I won't stay long." He replied.

"Fair enough, I'm surprised you managed to get here by yourself. Trying to become a trainer like your old man I see." Norman's tone, words and half smile made Erik feel as if he was being patronised, causing him to feel a surge of anger rise through his body. Before he realised his dad was just toying with him.

Erik was about to reply, until a boy of around sixteen entered the Gym. The trainer had spiked hair with a green hue and matching lime coloured eyes. He wore an aqua blue long coat with grey jeans, a bag strung around his shoulder. Erik recognised him as the trainer who lost in battle to his dad moments before.

"Ahh, hello." Norman said calmly, before turning to Erik, "This is Wally, he lives in the house next door. He recently has obtained his Pokemon licence and I am letting him borrow some of my Pokemon so I can help him to improve as a trainer."

"That's nice, but what's in it for you?" Erik's tone was dark.

"So Wally, what can we do for you?" Norman said, ignoring Erik's question.

"Err.. I .. err," Wally started, nervous, even shaking a little, "As you know sir, I have severe asthma and heart problems, and the air around Petalburg is.. erm.. thick." He paused to collect his thoughts before continuing, "I am moving in with my aunt and uncle in Verdanturf town, but it's quite a long journey and I would be lonely by myself.. so, I was, erm, wondering if I could borrow one of your Pokemon for the journey sir?"

At this point Wally looked close to a nervous breakdown, Erik felt sorry for him. He was only around three years younger than Erik, but looked so weak and frail.

Norman smiled at Wally, before replying, "I cannot loan you one of my Pokemon if you are leaving the city I am afraid." To which Wally looked visibly upset, but Norman wasn't finished. "I have an idea though. Erik, could you go into Route 102 and help Wally to capture his very own Pokemon?"

Erik was taken aback by the suggestion, how dare his dad get him to do this, treating him like a slave. A glance at Wally softened his stance though, he felt pity for him, and wanted to help.

"Okay. But for Wally, not for you."

* * *

The wild Ralts tried teleporting away, but a quick fireball from Blaze knocked the wind out of the psychic Pokemon. Once the Ralts hit the floor, Wally launched a Pokeball at it. The weakened Ralts was captured.

"Wow, my own Pokemon." Wally said excitedly turning to Erik, "Thank you so much mister."

The pair returned to Petalburg Gym, where Norman was waiting for them, a smile emerging on his face when he saw the Pokeball attached to Wally's belt, which contained the captured Ralts.  
"Congratulations Wally, I hope Erik proved useful." Erik felt his father's comment was a snide remark aimed at him, causing his anger to increase even more, but he kept quiet.  
"He really did, he's a very good trainer!" Wally said excitedly, clearly looking forward to travelling with his new Pokemon. "I have to go, my mum is waiting, thanks again Norman and Erik."

"Sweet kid." Norman remarked as the green haired teenager ran from the building. "That boy will be worth keeping an eye on." Norman said to himself more than to Erik, he then turned to his son. "Anyway, back to you Erik, what's your plan?"

"To beat you."

"Ahh the gym challenge then." Norman once again brushed Erik's comment off, nonplussed. "You'll want to go to Rustboro gym first, they use rock Pokemon there. You'll need to pass through Petalburg woods to get there though, a challenge for any trainer."

"You're telling me nothing I don't already know," Erik felt as if he was about to burst, "I Challenge you now, or are you afraid to lose to your son again?"

"I'm saving you the embarrassment son, your Pokemon are nowhere near being strong enough to face mine."

"You're a coward!" Erik roared, "I beat you before and could easily again!" His voice echoing around the room, but Norman just chuckled.

Erik stormed out, slamming the door behind him.


	7. Growing Up

Chapter Three – Growing Up

With the taste of freshly baked bread still in his mouth, Erik closed the oak door behind him. Route 104 was ahead of him and he hoped the next member of his party inhabited the pathway. Erik had tried to pass through the woods and onto Rustboro in the night before Wally's dad stopped him in his tracks and offered him a place to stay until the morning as a thank you for helping his son. Wally had already left, leaving a spare room for Erik to sleep in for the night.

Gully chirped beside him and was clearly refreshed as he took to the skies, circling the group overhead. Blaze, as always, walked to the right of Erik almost having to move his small legs into a run just to keep up with his trainer. Ice took his place to Erik's left, proudly strutting. String usually lagged behind, struggling to keep up with the group but this time Erik allowed String to rest on his shoulder, so he didn't feel left out.

As he studied his four Pokemon, Erik realised he could only carry two more. The official rules stated a trainer could only have with them six Pokemon at one time, any more they happen to have are to be put in storage.

Ice growled, then charged into the tall grass, which rustled for a moment.

Out sprang a Zigzagoon fleeing for it's life, Ice close in pursuit. The wild Pokemon was inches away from it's pursuers grasp, when Erik threw a Pokeball. The Zigzagoon hardly put up a struggle, delighted it had managed to escape with her life. Ice strolled back to Erik's side without a care, happy that he was able to help his trainer to catch a new Pokemon.

* * *

Ziggy rolled around in the golden sand, the harsh winds causing rough waves, which were battering the beach shore and splashing Erik's new Pokemon in the face. His Zigzagoon was a flighty creature, still scared of Ice whenever he came within a few metres of her.

Erik had gone down to the beach to allow his Pokemon to enjoy a couple of hours playing in the sand, the relaxation would do them good before they went through the trials of the forest, he hoped.

"This beach is my training zone!" Roared an athletic teenager as he marched over to Erik.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Erik." Came the sarcastic reply.

"Billy." He looked fit to burst, throwing a Pokeball to challenge Erik to battle. ASeedot appearing out of it, the grass Pokemon casting it's large black eyes at it's opponent from underneath a cap grey enough it matched the dull sky.

"Ziggy, let's see what you're made off." Erik spoke softly, the Zigzagoon slowly creeping up to her opponent, who was sat still, biding it's time. Ziggy made the first move, crashing into the Seedot who was unmoved and facing the ground, it's cap casting a shadow over the grass Pokemon's eyes it was building up a rage ready to unleash on Erik's Pokemon. Again Ziggy rammed into the Seedot, and again, but each time her foe stood unmoved. Ziggy backed off slowly, startled by how little effect her charges were having on the Seedot. Billy's creature suddenly leapt, all the rage it had built up being unleashed at once on Ziggy, which sent Erik's Pokemon flying through the air, slamming hard into the soft sands.

"Ziggy no!" Erik shouted, as his newly caught friend lay unmoving on the floor. Ice stormed out onto the field of battle. Erik knew that ice attacks were strong against grass Pokemon and so it proved, as Ice finished off the Seedot with ease before strutting proudly past Ziggy who was now back on her feet, weak but alive.

"Tailow!" Billy roared, summoning into battle his other Pokemon, the bird's feathers as blue as the deepest pits of the ocean. Ice turned around ready for another fight but Erik called him back, shouting up at Gully who was flying in circles above them.

Gully arrowed down into battle, making high pitched supersonic screeches, the tone of which clearly confused the Tailow. To escape the screams Billy's flying Pokemon closed it's eyes and tried flying away, only to end up hurling itself into a nearby rock. As Tailow tried to recover, Gully closed in and blasted his adversary with water, throwing it straight back into the rock and finishing it off.

"Sorry for ending your career." Erik taunted him, Gully landing on his shoulder and began nipping at his hair.

"You haven't. I have Pokemon in storage, I just decided to train these two today." Billy blasted before storming off.

* * *

The wooden hut loomed over the stairs at the top of the beach. Ice had raced Gully to the top of the planked stairway, with Erik nudging Blaze and telling him to join them. Blaze's eyes were little black marbles filled with sorrow at his master's words. Even though Erik knew he could not only trust, but rely on his Torchic entirely, his first Pokemon still lacked the confidence to leave his trainer's side.

A pat on the head and some encouraging words later, Blaze slowly built up the courage to run and join Ice and Gully, running as fast as his short legs could carry him and looking like he could trip over at any second.

Erik kneeled down on the sand, now at eye level with both Ziggy and String.

"Hey you two." He spoke softly and calming, letting his words soothe his two more timid Pokemon, "I know you both had to be saved in your first fights by Ice, but some Pokemon just grow up quicker than others. I've only had the two of you for a short time, so I do not expect you two to be super powerful just yet, but of course I will stick by you and give you more chances. If you look at someone like Ice, Blaze or Gully and feel that you'll never match up to them then you won't, the doubt would stop that. However, if you let them protect and inspire you, theres no limit to how strong you could all become."  
Ziggy crept up gently to Erik and licked his cheek, a tongue so small and rough it tickled to the touch. String on the other hand continued looking down at the floor, as he always did, almost scared to lift his head up and look his trainer in the eye. Erik gave him a pat on the head, his slimy skin wetting his trainer's hand, before the three of them joined Ice, Gully and now Blaze at the top of the stairs.

As Gully took flight another Wingull flew straight up to meet him, circling Erik's Pokemon.

"Peeko get back here!" Came a hoarse shout from a nearby elderly man, his head featured only a few strands of hair. He did, however, have a full beard which was as white as snow and piercing dark eyes.

"Gully come down." Erik ordered his own Pokemon, with both Wingull returning to rest on their trainer's shoulders. Gully then began his characteristic nipping of Erik's hair.

"Sorry about that, Peeko just wanted to play. She's very friendly." The man's voice was calm but it sounded like he had to force out every word. Peeko began shedding feathers which fell and got caught on her owner's full length black overcoat, which he had to pick off. "And enjoys winding me up." He said with hearty laughter, before turning his back and walking back into the the wooden hut.

"Wait, ! Please!" Came the wailing voice of a young teenager, holding what appeared to be a lifeless Zigzagoon in his arms, tearings streaming down his young-looking face.

"What's wrong?" had already closed the door and wasn't coming back out, so Erik decided to speak for him.  
"I need , he was once a great sailor and maybe he can help!" The boy cried, giant blue eyes fixated on the wooden hut.

"I can help." Erik said bluntly, Gully still nipping at his hair.

"My Zigzagoon is really hurt, and I have no potions, he's alive but only just." He said as he lifted up the unconscious Pokemon to show Erik.

"Here, have one of mine." Erik said, reaching into his backpack before handing him one of the potions the Pokemart employee had handed him back in Oldale town.

"Thank you so much! Thank you, thank you." The boy stopped his elated cheers and went cold when Erik asked him his next question.

"What happened?"

"A man, rich looking man, named Winstone, with slicked back blonde hair. He jumped out of the forest on me and Zagzig, his Zigzagoon was so strong.." Tears flooded his eyes again, before Erik's next reply seemed to appease him.

"I'll get him for you."

* * *

Winstone adjusted his bow tie as his Zigzagoon sized up String, the Wurmple having been given another chance by his trainer to show his worth.

"My last battle ended up with a little teen running away with his dead Zigzagoon in his arms." Winstone said bursting into laughter.

"He wasn't dead, I helped heal him with a potion, now I've come for you."

Erik had walked right up to the edge of Petalburg Woods, just as the boy had done, where he was set upon by Winstone leaping out of the shrubbery with Zigzagoon in tow, but unlike the boy, Erik was ready. String had elected to fight, much to his trainer's surprise. His Wurmple evidently wanting to show him that he was not in need of protection and could handle himself.

Winstone's creature taunted String, encouraging him to attack with the bug duly obliging by tackling his opponent. The Zigzagoon roared, startling String momentarily before he composed himself and tackled his competitor again, knocking Zigzagoon to the floor.

"Stop playing with that pathetic bug Zigzagoon and finish it off!" Winstone barked, with his Pokemon slamming the full force of it's body into String, nearly knocking him off the cliff edge on which the battle took place. Winstone smiled and wiped dust kicked up from the battle off of his suit.

"String, come back here!" Erik shouted, before nodding to Gully to go and save his ally. Gully squirted water at the Zigzagoon who dodged it. Gully then went to divebomb his foe but Zigzagoon deftly leapt to the side and rammed into the Wingull, knocking him off the cliff edge. Erik held his breath as he waited, and waited. Gully shot back up, shooting water and knocking the Zigzagoon into Winstone.

"Eugh!" The wealthy man recoiled, before opening his briefcase and healing his Pokemon's wounds with a potion. But Gully didn't give up, shooting another watery burst, landing the hit. Zigzagoon fell to the floor but Gully was relentless and this time successfully divebombed the prone Pokemon, finishing off the battle and ending Winstone's Pokemon career. The rich youth slumped to the floor, silent.

* * *

Erik pushed his way through more bushes, his five Pokemon following him through. The forest was so dense the sunlight struggled to push it's way through the trees, casting a murky darkness throughout Petalburg woods. Gully let out a sudden shriek of warning, Erik's Wingull had been flying above them the entire time, navigating the woods much easier than the rest of the group. String had coped next best, in his natural environment he has able to keep up alongside his trainer.

Erik suddenly saw what Gully was warning them about, as String was sent sprawling. Another Wurmple had attacked him, before crawling back into the bush it had emerged from. Blaze, Ziggy and Ice were still behind struggling to keep up, with Gully unable to find the assailant as he pecked through the bush it had run off into.

String got back up to his feet and backpedaled, as the other Wurmple had this time appeared out of another bush, and was now charging at String. Erik rapidly reached into his bag and pulled out a Pokeball, throwing it at the wild Pokemon, capturing him.  
"Are you okay String?" Erik asked, before his Pokemon give him a timid nod back, String was shaking furiously. "I've got a name for our new friend, I'll call him Speedy!"

The sound of sarcastic laughter caught Erik's ears, "Nearly taken down by a wild Wurmple, my finely trained trio of Wurmples will have no problem!"

The man came out of the bushes like a bug, almost looking like one himself with bulging hazel eyes and large teeth. "Do it for your trainer Lyle, Wurmple number one!"

He almost spat everytime he spoke, as his Pokemon wandered onto the field of battle. Erik responded with a nod to Ziggy, eager for his Zigzagoon to have another chance in battle. His Pokemon had just managed to make it through the bush after a struggle, a couple of cuts appearing under her fur which looked like she had caught herself on some branches.

Ziggy was eager to prove herself, so made the first move by tackling the opposing Wurmple to the soft mud. Her foe managed to lift it's head up to spray string out of it's mouth at Ziggy, wrapping Erik's Pokemon up in a cocoon of string. After a few seconds of struggling inside the string shell, the case made of string stopped moving. Erik's knew it would be impossible to breathe inside of it, immediately regretting sending Ziggy out to suffocate in battle after she had toiled through the forest. A few more seconds passed with no movement, Erik felt himself shaking and looked down to the floor, eyes welling up with tears, before hearing Lyle shout.

"Wurmple One! No!"  
Ziggy had broken out of the shell and taken the Wurmple out, winning the duel.

Erik jumped up shouting with glee, ahead of immediately recalling Ziggy and telling String this is his chance to prove himself.

String used the poisonous point on his head to try and intoxicate his fellow Wurmple, but was unsuccessful in delivering the poison. "Wurmple Two" slammed into String in response, with String returning the blow. Lyle's Wurmple then went again, ramming String into the ground and nearly burying him under the mud. As String struggled to get back up again Erik told Speedy to save the Pokemon he had nearly killed earlier.

Speedy came out of his Pokeball and finished off the weakened Wurmple withouting breaking a sweat, before making short work of "Wurmple Three" straight afterwards. As String saw another Wurmple proving himself to Erik after he had failed once again, his head dropped. His trainer giving him a pat on the head which did nothing to elevate his mood.

* * *

The two trainers stood off against each other, each clasping a Pokeball in their hands. The laboratory technician cowering behind Erik, clutching the research papers in his hands. The grunt opposite them was wearing a tight fitting scarlet red hooded cloak with matching boots, through his outfit Erik could see an even tighter fitting blood red undershirt.

"Why will you Team Magma grunts not leave Devon Corporation alone!" The technician wailed, kneeling down using his bright white labcoat to hide behind.

"Boss says those papers are important, hand them over." The mysterious man snapped, a shadow over his face cast by the hood he was wearing, his voice sounding gruff. "And you," He said, turning to Erik. "Nobody messes with Team Magma and gets away with it, step aside."

Erik had been continuing his journey through the woods, when he had stumbled upon an innocent looking man looking for a Shroomish. The man had told him he was a Devon Corporation employee and was out in the woods looking for the grass Pokemon for his studies.

"You know why they have banned the use of Pokemon in all other regions?" Erik said to the man who had come up to the two of them demanding they surrender some research papers. "Because of gangs like you and Team Rocket, using Pokemon for crime."

"Look kid, if you will not step aside then my Poochyena will get those papers for me." The Magma member replied, throwing his Pokeball to the floor to release his Pokemon, Erik replied by freeing Ziggy out his own ball for battle.

The Poochyena kicked up sand and dust which had been ingrained in the ground at Ziggy, temporary blinding Erik's Pokemon.

Ziggy stayed resilient, taunting her opponent by wagging her tail at him.

"Very out of character, but her confidence is clearly on the rise." Erik thought to himself, before the Poochyena howled in anger, shooting more sand wildly before being itself too blinded not by sand, but by anger. The Pokemon not noticing Ziggy charging at it until she slammed into her foe, finishing the fight.

"Not an out of character taunt, instead, that was actually very clever. Leaving the poorly trained Poochyena blinded by it's own rage." Erik smiled at the thought of his Pokemon's ingenuity.

The Magma member ran off at the sight of his Pokemon losing the battle with the Devon Corporation employee using his own potions to heal all of Erik's Pokemon as a thank you, before running off himself back to his office in Rustboro.

Further into the woods, Erik battled another bug collector named James, who used aNincada. Ziggy went into battle but despite her newly found confidence and winning momentum, was unable to inflict a scratch on James's bug. Erik switched in Blaze who burned the creature to a crisp.

Further on another trainer challenged Erik to a battle, sending out her own Zigzagoon to which he countered with Gully. Gully used his confuse then blast with water tactic he had used on the Tailow before, continuing Erik's winning streak without him even losing a member of his team yet.

* * *

"Finally," Erik sighed with relief, addressing his team. "The woods are behind us."

String and Speedy both jumped up together at seeing the treeline fall behind them, the two had become close after String was saved by his fellow Wurmple during an earlier battle. Speedy was acting almost as a mentor and guardian, making sure String was being looked out for. They were all tired after the trawl through the forest, the dark of night closing in around them.

"Another victim!" A young woman shouted as she saw the tired group exiting Petalburg Woods, "Whilst you are tired me and my Pokemon will get battle experience by beating you."

Ice growled, baring his fangs, but Erik held him off and turned to String and Speedy.

"You two have become almost like brothers very quickly. Speedy, you have helped String grow, protected him through the forest and enabled him to believe in himself a bit more and for that I thank you." Erik then turned to String, as Speedy got the hint and moved to join the rest of the group, leaving the two alone.  
"What is this.." The woman who had challenged them sighed, before sending out her Lotad to battle them.

"Ignore her String, I believe in you and always have, but there is only so far pure belief can go. You have to keep going, you need to win a fight otherwise you will never grow up and always need looking after." String looked down at the dirt, ashamed. Erik continued, "Don't feel like you've let anyone down because you haven't. I'll give you another chance to prove yourself and don't worry, if it goes bad then Speedy has your back, we all have your back. Go out there String and beat this Lotad."

Erik caught a glimpse of fire in String's eyes, a new found determination. Suddenly his Pokemon was engulfed in a bright white light.

Erik had to take a step back and cover his eyes against the sudden brightness against the coming dusk. When Erik opened his eyes again String was gone, in his place was a Cascoon. His Pokemon had evolved.

"No way!" The lady complained.

Erik knew about evolution, when a Pokemon become powerful enough, experienced enough and had enough belief in themselves to grow up – they entered the next stage in their evolution cycle, growing into a creature stronger than before.

String wasted no time, the newly evolved Pokemon jabbing the opposing Lotad with poison points, succeeding in poisoning the woman's Pokemon. The Lotad fell to it's knees, unable to stand with poison coursing through it's veins. String showed no mercy and finished the weakened Lotad off.

Next the woman sent out a Shroomish, another grass Pokemon weak against poisonous attacks.

Knowing this, Erik instructed his Cascoon to do the same thing again, and again. String succeeded in poisoning his target.

The Shroomish didn't go down like the Lotad however, and retaliated by releasing spores into the air, String breathed them in and became temporarily paralysed.

Erik recalled him, letting Gully finish off the Shroomish from above. He knew that grass types were also weak to flying attacks.

As Erik turned round to his team, a flash of light caught his eye, Speedy was consumed by the same white light that String was. Erik knew that the sight of String evolving caused Speedy to want to up his game, they may be like brothers but the latter didn't want to be outshone by String. The light faded, leaving a freshly evolved Silcoon. Usually the same Pokemon would evolve into the same thing, but Wurmples were a rare exception, evolving into either a Silcoon or a Cascoon depending on their personality.

* * *

Battle commenced, Speedy and Ice lined up against a Seedot and Lotad in a double battle as the rotten wood creaked below them. Gia and Mia, two young twins, had challenged Erik to a fight and he was challenged by two trainers who were allied, he would have to fight both at once, although both sides could still only use a maximum of six Pokemon.

Ice looked at his reflection in the lake and seemed to smile, the bridge seemed sturdy even if it was rotten, but any of these Pokemon could be knocked off into the lake at any time. Ice stopped admiring himself to jump out and encase his fangs into the Seedot, with Speedy managing to successfully poison the opposing Lotad.

Ice threw the Seedot into the lake to finish it off, with Lotad shooting both of them with watery shots. Speedy charged through the water blast to ram the Lotad into the lake but being a water Pokemon, the Lotad hopped right back up onto the bridge, where Ice was waiting to finish it off.

Erik continued on his way, the city right ahead of them. It was deep into the night now and the lights from the city illuminated the pathway into it. Erik decided to take his Pokemon to the edge of the lake, sitting to rest on the grass verge before entering Rustboro.

He began to drop off, Blaze and Ziggy cuddled up with him. Ice slept on his own as always with Gully dipping his feet into the lake. Erik watched newly evolved duo of Speedy and String playing together further up in the grass for a while before sleep took him.

"Hey there lazy."

Erik jolted awake, staring May in the face. His sudden reacted in turn waking up his Pokemon. The night was still pitch black.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you jump," May giggled, "I saw you over here asleep from Rustboro."

"Hello May." Erik said groggily, "What are you doing awake at this time?"

"I'm staying in a hotel but couldn't sleep there, was very uncomfortable. I like looking across the lake though it's peaceful, then I saw you, your Torchic breathes small flames when it sleeps."  
"Did you make it through Petalburg Woods okay May?"

"Yes, I'm not actually registered as a trainer. As a researcher I don't have to accept battle challenges."

"I might register of a researcher, people are attacking me all over the place these days." Erik joked, but May didn't catch on.

"You can't challenge Gyms if you do that Erik." Her stern words made him sigh as the joke passed over her, a short silence ensuing before she broke it.

"Are these your friends?" She said looking over to Erik's Pokemon.

"Yes, you know Blaze my oldest Pokemon, I can always rely on in a tough spot."  
May nodded.

"You've met Ice too, very self-confident and brash. Gully over there I caught on route 103, where we battled, he's very playful but I can always rely on him too."  
Erik smiled as he turned his head to see String and Speedy lying beside each other, "Those two are like brothers, String was always a bit scared and a bit weak at first, but the more confident Speedy has really got the best out of him. Finally, Ziggy," Erik started stroking his Zagzagoon's fur as he spoke of her, "She's really timid, but surprisingly clever."

May smiled as Erik talked about his partners, before she rested her head on his chest and looked up at the stars.

"I could stay here forever, Erik." She told him

"Me too." He said, as she leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

They lay together a while before falling asleep in each others' arms.

The next morning Erik woke up to find May had gone.


	8. The Pain Of Victory

Chapter Four – The Pain of Victory

"Poisoned, frozen, paralysed, burned and sleeping" Erik informed the class full of children, the teacher nodding along to each answer he gave. "You can use items to heal all of these status conditions however. For example, I bought an antidote from the Pokemart earlier today, it heals any poisoned Pokemon." Erik said as he pulled the item out of his bag to show the students.

"And what effect," The professor asked Erik, "Does each status condition have on your Pokemon?"

Erik looked around the room before answering, he was inside Hoenn's trainer school, where a bunch of schoolchildren were eager to learn from a fully qualified trainer. In truth, he had entered the building looking for May, thinking she might have come to Rustboro in order to take a class, but instead ended up being asked by the teacher to lend a hand.

"A poisoned Pokemon will slowly lose it's health over time, becoming physically weaker too as the venom saps it's strength." Erik finally answered, before continuing with the other status effects a Pokemon can pick up in battle.

"A frozen Pokemon is unable to move until it thaws itself out of the block of ice it is encased in. A Pokemon which has been paralysed will become physically slower and sometimes not be able to move. One that has been burned will slowly lose health whilst also lowering the damage they can inflict on their opponent." Erik paused for breath before carrying on with the final effect.

"Sometimes a Pokemon can be forced to sleep by their opponent in battle. If this happens then you will have to wait for them to wake up before they can do anything else."

The professor began clapping to which the entire classroom joined in, Erik allowed himself a smile.

"Thank you so much Erik." The professor shook his hand, he was an aging man with balding grey hair and a finely trimmed beard. "As a thank you, I can teach your Pokemon how to cut down large trees that bar your way. Also, showing you how to teach your Pokemon the same technique if you ever need to in the future?"  
"That would be great, professor." Erik allowed himself another smile as he thought back to how useful the ability to cut down large trees would have been back in Petalburg Woods, as he handed over Ziggy's Pokeball in order for the professor to teach his Zigzagoon to cut down trees.

* * *

Route 116 connected Rustboro city to a half-finished tunnel, built by the residents to connect the city to nearby Verdanturf town. However, the tunnel wasn't completed due to the Pokemon living in the cave causing constant cave-ins with their booming shouts.

Erik had decided to use the route instead to train his Pokemon for the Rustboro gym, knowing he would find other trainers with the same idea along the way. He also hoped to add a new member to his team. Before leaving Rustboro City to the east, he had healed his team at the Pokemon centre, being told he only had three more uses of it for the rest of the month.

Erik sighed as he remembered he hadn't seen May since the night before, as the grassy terrain of Route 116 shot out in front of him, he saw Rusturf Tunnel in the distance.

Ziggy immediately ran off and started cutting through shrubbery, using her newly learned ability. She cut right through some long strands of grass with her razor sharp claws, before moving onto a slightly larger target, a dense thicket of bushes. As she slashed at them Erik saw a blur of speed, a claw slashed out at Ziggy, knocked her backwards. Ice charged in to save her, but the attacker was gone.

"What was that?" Erik questioned Ziggy as he checked if she was okay, Pokeball in his hand ready if the wild Pokemon assaulted them again.

"Hey you." A man with a backwards baseball cap called over to the group, "That Nincada that attacked you is mine. I've been chasing it all morning."

Before Erik had time to reply, the man reached into the pocket of his blue shorts and pulled out a Pokeball, the red ball blending in with his same coloured t-shirt.

"I'm Joey, and I challenge you to battle!" He declared throwing the ball, his own Zigzagoon coming out.

"String, let's carry on your winning form." Came the reply, as String trotted confidently out onto the field of battle, full of self-belief. The Zigzagoon moved instantly and slammed into String. The Cascoon responded by attempting to poison the aggressor, failing.

String tried and failed once more, his confidence clearly dropping before Speedy purred at him, giving him some encouragement. String tried again, and succeeded. The Zigzagoon fell to the floor as the poison flowed through it, String using the opportunity to finish it off.

Before String has time to celebrate, Joey threw another Pokeball with a Machoppopping out this time. Ice went to trot onto the field of battle but Gully got there first, his flying abilities being strong against the fighting power of Machop, leading to Gully winning the battle quickly.

Gully flew down and began nibbling at Erik's hair as always, with String and Speedy bumping into each other in celebration. Blaze, as always, remained at Erik's side as they traveled further down the route, before they heard rustling in the bushes. Blaze pre-emptively blasted fire, striking the Nincada as it leaped out of the bushes with Erik reacting quickly to his Torchic's intuition by flinging a Pokeball, successfully managing to capture his new Nincada, which he named "Ninja." Erik put the newly captured Ninja into storage, as his party was already at the maximum capacity of six Pokemon.

* * *

"Name's Clark." The hiker said in a strong accent, his words punching through a thick black beard.

"Erik." Ziggy's trainer replied as she strode out to meet Clark's Geodude in battle.

Erik had already beaten Joey, and more recently, Jose today. The latter fight had ended quickly with Ziggy defeating a Wurmple, Speedy beating a fellow Silcoon and Ice making short work of a Nincada. Leading to Erik feeling confident about facing yet another trainer.

Clark was using a rock type Pokemon, the same type they used in Rustboro gym, so this battle would be a good test for Erik before he challenged for the gym badge.

Rusturf Tunnel lay in front of them, Erik had tried passing through to find the way blocked, but did manage to capture himself one of the hundreds of Whismur which inhabited the tunnel, naming it "Bunny" for it's large ears. After heading back out of the tunnel he was jumped by both Clark and his girlfriend, both looking for a battle. The burly rock trainer challenging Erik first.

Ziggy scratched at the Geodude with her sharp claws, but found her strike slamming hard off the rocky surface.

Erik withdrew his Zigzagoon and sent out Gully instead knowing that water attacks were strong against rock types, although rock attacks were strong against flying Pokemon so Erik would have to be wary.

Geodude slammed into Gully, pinning him up against the solid tunnel exterior. This wasn't the first time Gully had been in this situation though, so was able to use his experience to blast his attacker away with water.

Clark remained remorseless after seeing his Pokemon fall, immediately sending out another Geodude. This time Clark's rock Pokemon was larger, and looking a lot tougher than the last.

Erik withdrew the weakened Gully and gave Ice a quick nod, his Poochyena strutting out to meet the Geodude.

Ice's fangs closed around Geodude's solid body, but even the added ice to the bite could not penetrate the rock. Geodude grabbed a nearby rock and slammed it into Ice who had left himself exposed, the attack nearly killing Erik's Pokemon.

Erik felt sweat pouring down his face, this is the toughest battle he had ever faced, his Pokemon struggling against the rock types.

"If we struggle against an average rock type trainer, how are we ever going to defeat a gym leader's rock Pokemon." Erik worried.

"I know." He exclaimed aloud, "Speedy, poison it."

String bumped against his friend to wish him luck. Speedy returned the bump and hopped out to face Clark's Geodude, who had grabbed another rock ready to throw. Speedy charged in with his poisonous points levelled at the Geodude, the largest point aimed straight into his opponent's left eye. Erik smiled as he saw the plan being put into action before seeing Speedy thrown back, the thrown rock hitting him.

Erik froze, staring straight at his Silcoon, who lay unmoving. String bounced out over to his friend, furiously bumping against him trying to wake him up. Erik felt as if time had stopped as he stared at his Cascoon checking for signs of life and after a few moments, realised there was no hope. Speedy was gone.

"NO!" Erik shouted at String, as his Pokemon angrily charged at the Geodude in a state of rage. Erik ran, trying to stop his Pokemon making the same mistake as Speedy, but it was too late. String had been hit square in the face by another rock that had been hurled by the Geodude.

Strings body flew through the air, landing and rolling a few times before he lay resting side by side with Speedy. Erik grabbed String, desperately shaking his Cascoon, hoping he hadn't lost two Pokemon in a matter of seconds, but it was in vain.

String and Speedy remained side by side in death as they had done in life.

Blaze saw Erik distraught, clutching his two deceased friends in tears, and shot a blast of fire so powerful it could rival the sun, finishing off Clark's exhausted Geodude.

Clark's girlfriend threw out a Pokeball containing a Marill next. Ziggy charged down the Pokemon, clawing at it, again and again.

Gully landed on Erik's shoulder, rubbing his beak against his beloved trainer.

For once there was no swagger to Ice's step, no pride. The Poochyena simply limped over to Erik and rested his head on his master's lap, his trainer sat with tears streaming down his face, holding both String and Speedy in his arms.

* * *

"Maybe this is what my dad meant," Erik thought to himself as he looked over his two Wurmples' graves, "If he hadn't tested me so much, pushed me so far.. Would I have been able to handle this?.." Erik shook the thought from his head. His two newly caught Pokemon, Bunny and Ninja, joining Ice, Ziggy, Gully and Blaze to complete his team of six.

He returned to the front of the Pokemon gym, the building looking similar to every other in Hoenn with a plain white brick surface, only one floor and glass windows but this time with an orange roof and sliding double doors.

He knew the gym to be home to rock type users. The only rock trainer he had faced before had killed off two of his team, he wasn't confident.

Rock types had the advantage over bug, flying and fire types meaning that Gully, Ninja and Blaze were at risk here. Normal type attacks were also weak against rock, meaning Ziggy and Bunny would be ineffective as well. The only real chance Erik had was Ice. Gully's water attacks were strong against the rock types too but using his Wingull here would be a big risk. He only had two uses left of the Pokemon Centre as well.

As Erik entered the gym, the first thing that caught his eye was a huge fossil on the back wall. There was a mini museum at the front, with old fossils filling up glass cases, the biggest of which was sat right in front of the entrance, containing four rows of ash grey badges that were sat on red velvet. Erik assumed that Roxanne would award one of these badges to each trainer that defeated her in battle. The rest of the building's interior was made entirely with stone walls, rocks jutting out of them, some large, some small. In fact, the gym almost looked like the inside of a cave, suiting the Pokemon used here.

"Hello trainer, my name is Roxanne. I am the leader here." A deep stern voice echoed around the room, a woman with jet black hair which was tied up in pigtails approached him, wearing a pink and black school uniform.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Erik blurted out, but Roxanne just laughed it off.

"I just graduated from trainer's school." She informed Erik much to his surprise, he had thought she was in her thirties, but upon closer inspection noted she was only a couple of years older than he was. "I was right at the top of my class and studied for longer than usual to make sure I became a Gym leader."

"I'm Erik, let's fight." He said bluntly, not in the mood for courtesies after the loss of String and Speedy.

"Hasty, but not yet. First you must prove yourself worthy of challenging me by defeating my friends here." Roxanne pointed to three trainers who were watching the conversation with interest. Erik remembered that anyone wishing to become a Gym Leader would train in the Gyms themselves, battling any potential challengers. Once the current leader stepped down, one of the trainers within the Gym would be chosen to replace them.

"I'm Josh, I'll go first." A young boy who looked to still be in trainer's school announced, also wearing a black and pink uniform.

"Ice, we are relying on you here." Erik said in a hushed tone to his Poochyena, who responded to his trainer by marching out, swagger returned. A Geodude was to be his opponent.

This time Ice didn't give his opponent a chance, quickly wrapping icy teeth around the foe. Backing off then returning to do the same thing again, finishing the fight.

Josh sent out a second Geodude, this one looking bigger and tougher, and so it proved.

Ice tried the same technique again but Josh's Pokemon threw him off, into the rocky wall. Erik ran over and applied the potion given to him in Oldale town to Ice's wounds, healing him up and sending him off again. Josh's Geodude has managed to grab a rock off the wall and launched it at Poochyena, Erik's mind flashing back to String and Speedy being defeated the same way.

Ice rolled, dodging the rock, before leaping onto the Geodude, finishing the fight.

"I'm next, name's Tommy." Another boy in school uniform informed Erik, sending out his own Geodude.

Ice went in with his fangs again, this time encasing his foe in an ice prison. He had managed to freeze his opponent. The frozen Geodude was unable to resist Ice's next moves, the Poochyena winning Erik his second battle.

"You are good, but I'm the number one trainer in trainer school!" A girl shouted, throwing out her own Geodude.

"Yeah get him Georgia!" The defeated Tommy encouraged.

Ice tiredly went in again. His weariness showed as Geodude took little damage from Erik's Pokemon's fangs, the rock Pokemon grabbing Ice by the throat and slamming him against a rock wall.

Erik again ran over to heal with Pokemon with a potion he had purchased earlier, and the tired Ice set off again. Ice bared his fangs, icy whiteness glistening off them, but the Geodude easily dodged him and slammed a rock he had picked up down on Erik's Poochyena.

Ice barely survived the blow, Erik calling him back and sending in Bunny for his first try at combat.

The Whismur matched Ice's swagger, confidently trotting out onto the field of battle. Bunny opened his mouth, letting out a booming sound. His voice ricocheted off the walls, causing the entire room to shake.

Georgia's Geodude was unmoved, the floating boulder flying over to Bunny and began pummelling Erik's Pokemon.

Erik reached for a potion before realising he had none left, remembering he had given one to the boy on Route 104.

Bunny stood strong, throwing the Geodude off into a nearby rock wall. Bunny boldly followed that up with her fists, but the Geodude was too quick, he had grabbed a rock off the wall and had hurled it at the oncoming Whismur.

Bunny fell to the floor, bereft of life.

Ice charged in, angry at another one of his partners dying because of his failures. The Poochyena finished off the Geodude then slouched to the floor, distraught.

"Well done Erik," Roxanne clapped him, "I recommend you visit the Pokemon Centre then come back for our battle."

Before she realised that Erik was already on his way out.

* * *

"Berries.." Erik whispered to himself as he lay awake in the hotel bed, he had been up all night wondering how he would defeat Roxanne. Gym leaders were supposedly twice as strong as the other trainers in their gyms, and Erik had struggled against them.

As a child his dad always gave him advice. One such piece now reverberated around his mind, "If you allow a Pokemon to hold a berry during battle, they can use it to heal themselves without your help."

Erik reached into his bag and found some Oran berries he had saved from earlier.

* * *

"I knew you would get this far, you are after all, Norman's son." Roxanne declared as she faced Erik down, her grey eyes matching the colour of the rock wall behind her.

"Ice, it's time." Erik said coolly to his Poochyena, who's strut had disappeared. Ice now seemed to nervously plod onto the rocky arena, head hanging low.

Erik felt himself shaking, matching Ice's doubts, they had both come into Rustboro on a string of victories without losing one partner. Now, they faced a Gym leader for the first time, after losing three Pokemon the previous day.

Roxanne sent out her own Geodude, who immediately glided over to a wall and ripped off a chunk of rock.

Erik had to force himself to watch, now vigorously shaking, sweat dripping down his face. He looked at Ice, seeing his Pokemon also shaking. Ice turned his head to face Erik.

Ice stared at Erik, seeing the fear in his trainer's deep blue eyes, he composed himself. Ice knew he had to do this for Erik, his trainer had lost too much in such a short space of time.

Ice leapt at the Geodude, crunching down on his enemy's rocky surface with fangs filled with cold, causing great damage. Ice leapt off and thought about going in for another blow, but his doubt had return, making him hesitate.

Roxanne's Geodude took advantage of the pause and threw the rock he had held towards the roof, causing an avalanche of rocks tumbling down to land on Ice, caging him in a pile of stones.

Ice struggled free of his rocky prison, battered and bruised.

Erik went to call his Pokemon back but Ice had other ideas, and began to eat the Oran berry his trainer had given him before the battle. Enhancing him with a fresh boost of energy.

Ice charged in again with fangs bared, but this time missed his target, the Geodude once again imprisoning Ice within a tomb of rocks.

Again Ice broke free, but missed with another charge, his confidence shot to pieces. Geodude went in for the kill, but Ice managed to strike first with an icy bite.

Roxanne ran over to heal her Geodude with a potion, by the time she was finished Ice leapt in again. Erik could sense his Pokemon's fury, the anger of his previous failures giving Ice strength.

Ice enclosed his fangs once again around Geodude, freezing Roxanne's Pokemon. The frozen Pokemon unable to defend itself against Ice's flurries.

"Your Poochyena must really like you, the passion it fights with." Roxanne called over to Erik.

"He fights for String, Speedy and Bunny." Erik corrected her, receiving a perplexed look in reply.

"I don't know who they are, but I know that this battle is over now. You struggled against my weakest Pokemon, now prepare to face my strongest."

Roxanne sent out a Pokemon that Erik had never seen before, his Pokedex informing him it was a Nosepass. It just looked like a big blue rock with a huge red nose.

Erik tried to call Ice back, but his Poochyena carried on, unable to hear his trainer's calls in his fury.

"Nosepass, prepare yourself as we practised." Roxanne ordered her Pokemon, who responded by kneeling and holding two blue rock hands against it's head, hardening its surface.

Ice used the terrain against his foe, kicking up sand at the Nosepass, trying to blind his opponent. The Nosepass was unmoved. Ice went in again but ended up on the receiving end of Nosepass's solid stone hand.

Ice flew through the air to land by Erik's side, gasping for air, but alive.

Erik withdrew his Pokemon and sent out Gully, a risky move but necessary. Erik thought Gully's water blasts would be effective against the rock Pokemon and was proven right. A burst of water from Gully's mouth sent the Nosepass slamming backwards into the rock wall. Gully flew up into the air, then came flying down, blasting more water at the Nosepass who lay unmoving on the floor.

"Yes!" Erik shouted, as his Gully circled Nosepass triumphantly, the Wingull staring his trainer in the eyes, knowing he had made him proud.

Until Erik dropped to his knees.

Gully slammed hard into the rock wall, a huge rock had hit him. Thrown by the Nosepass.

Seconds passed and Gully still hadn't moved. Erik felt tears fill his eyes once again, Gully was gone.

Blaze saw Erik frozen in time, not moving or speaking. The Torchic nudged Ziggy into battle, who timidly crept out. Blaze knew his trainer well, knowing that Erik would have chosen Ziggy next as both himself and Ninja were weak to rock attacks.

Ziggy was hit by a thrown rock, crashing into the ground. The Zigzagoon tried struggling back to his feet, but was too weak.

Blaze knew there was only one choice left, so marched into battle himself. With all his might he blasted fiery embers at the Nosepass, the flames engulfing his opponent. But the Nosepass remained strong.

Roxanne ordered her Pokemon to pick up a rock and cause another avalanche, knowing fire types were weak against rock attacks, the avalanche was guaranteed to defeat the Torchic.

Erik watched as the Nosepass hurled a rock at the roof, causing a barrage of boulders to fall from it's surface. His Torchic turned it's head to look at his trainer, the little black beads that were it's own eyes filled with sorrow. Then anger.

Blaze bolted, dodging one rock then another, before breathing molten fire at the Nosepass, burning through the stone surface. Winning Erik his first Gym badge.

* * *

The Gym door slid closed behind them, Erik's tired and battered team limping out.

"Don't take those parts!" Came a scream from across the street, as a Team Magma member barged his way through the crowded street and bolted off onto Route 116, followed closely by the same Devon Corporation laboratory technician they had met in Petalburg Woods.


	9. Crime Wave

Chapter Five – Crime Wave

A mind-breaking shot of psychic energy made Ninja press his claws against his skull, trying to fight off the powerful blast as Jerry's Ralts tormented his foe's mind.

Erik rubbed the part of his hair where Gully used to nip at it, unable to get the recently defeated Pokemon out of his head. Erik had gained his first badge, but the events of the last couple of days had taken their toll on him. He had lost String, Speedy, Bunny and Gully all in a short space of time, and his only reward was a small piece of metal they called a gym badge.

Ninja continued to struggle against the attacks whilst his trainer was distracted, the Nincada pushed back further and further as Jerry encouraged his own Pokemon to finish the fight.

As Ralts inhaled breath in preparation for another psychic attack, it was blasted by roaring fire. Blaze had stepped in for Erik once again, rescuing Ninja.

"Hey, no fair!" Jerry complained, before he was shoved aside by his partner, Karen. The two newly qualified trainers having challenged Erik together as he re-entered Route 116.

Erik tried to remember how he had come back to the location, the memories of what happened after Gully fell in battle were little more than a blur to him.

He remembered hearing the shouts of help from a Devon Corporation employee as the man who had rescued before chased a thief.  
He also remembered that the employee then came up to him, asking once more for his help.

"Erik!" The laboratory technician had called to him. "Oh how good it is to see you. Remember that Team Magma thug that tried robbing us in the woods?"

Erik nodded in response.

"Well guess what, he's now gone and stolen some parts from me, right outside the Devon Corp. building!"

Erik stayed silent, but knew where this was going, he wasn't going to help the man without something in return this time.

"I need your help again Erik, please!" The employee begged.

"What's in it for me?" Erik countered, his tone was dark.

As Erik recalled the day's previous events, his mind was snapped back to the present. Ninja stepped out to meet Karen's Shroomish in battle, the Nincada wanting another chance to prove his worth to Erik. Karen's pale grass Pokemon released a plethora of poisonous spores into the air. Ninja inhaled them, against his better judgement.

Erik reacted quickly, grabbing the antidote out of his bag and letting Ninja drink from it, the poison coursing through the bug Pokemon's body was destroyed. With this new lease of life, Ninja pounced on his foe, attaching his fangs into the Shroomish and leeching the life from it. Winning the match-up.

* * *

Erik put the Oran berries in his backpack as he approached Rusturf Tunnel. The employee had given him a handful of the food and a promise of meeting the president of Devon Corporation if Erik agreed to get the parts back off the thief.

Erik did agree to the deal, after healing at the Pokemon centre and burying Gully, Erik departed to Route 116 where Jerry and Karen were training together. Seeing Erik, and thinking he was an easy target, they challenged him to a duel in order to pick up some battle experience for their Pokemon. Blaze and Ninja had proven them wrong.

"Hello again young man." A hoarse voice called as Erik was once again snapped back to the present.

"Mr Briney." Erik exclaimed with surprise, "What are you doing here?"

The old sailor stroked his beard before replying, Erik noticed that the man's hands were shaking with his eyes clouded by tears.

"It's Peeko, my Wingull." He started, struggling to speak. "Peeko and I were just shopping in Rustboro when a man came running through in a red hooded cloak. He grabbed Peeko and ran off with her."

"Did he go inside?" Erik asked, nodding at the Tunnel entrance before them.

"Yes, I chased after him, but.." Briney lifted up the cuff of his trousers, revealing a leg covered in crimson blood. "He got his Poochyena to attack me. It bit my leg."

"No wonder he's so shaken." Erik thought to himself, before announcing out loud – "I'll get Peeko back for you."

* * *

The Magma grunt was attempting to climb a large pile of rocks that were blocking the path through the tunnel. Peeko was in a firm grip, trapped in the thief's arm. The cardboard package strapped to his back.

"I thought I got rid of that Poochyena." Erik barked.

"Not you again." The grunt sighed, "This is a different Poochyena, I had him in storage."

"Why are you doing this? Who are you?" Erik's anger amplified his voice into almost a roar.

"Grant is my name.."

"I don't care who you are, I want to know about Magma." Erik interrupted.

"Poochyena, attack!" Grant ordered, ignoring the question. The criminal's Poochyena going straight for Erik.

All four of Erik's Pokemon charged, but Ice was fastest. Erik's own Poochyena tackling Grant's. Ice had been quiet and distant after the gym fight, like his trainer, the deaths of Gully, String, Speedy and Bunny was taking it's toll on him. But this was different, Ice was now fighting to protect his trainer.

Grant's Poochyena got back to his feet and howled, to which Ice replied which his own roar, which was infinitely louder. The tunnel started to shake around them, causing rocks to tumble from the roof and onto the battlefield where they crashed into both Grant's Pokemon and Erik's.

As Ice clambered out of the pile of rocks, the opposing Poochyena was on him, fangs wrapped around Ice's throat. As the life was suffocated out of Erik's Pokemon, another rock fell from the roof. Seemingly in slow motion the boulder plummeted to the ground, before smashing into Grant's Poochyena and winning the battle for Erik.

"Wingull, attack!" Grant shouted as he released Peeko from his grip. The Wingull soared, grabbing the cardboard package off Grant's back in it's beak, flying over to Erik, dropping the package in his hand, then flying to meet the onrushing Mr. Briney.

"Peeko!" Shouted Briney with delight, the man had ran into the cave at the sound of the fighting.

"Damn you!" Grant cursed as he used the distraction to run back out of the tunnel. Erik went to pursue him but Briney held out a hand.

"He's not worth it friend." The old sailor said with a smile, "I cannot thank you enough, if I can ever do anything for you, you just need to ask."

* * *

"You have the package!" The technician wailed as he saw Erik approaching the Devon Corporation office.

"Now for you to hold up your end of the deal." Erik said bluntly, as the employee took the package and gestured for Erik to follow him inside.

The building was huge, it must have been at least a dozen floors high. The reception area that made up the entrance was quite plain, the interior was enclosed by the same sandy brown coloured stone walls that made up by building. The only features of life in the front room was a receptionist lazily scribbling on some paper behind a desk in the corner, and some plants at the far side of the room.  
The technician led Erik towards a lift in the far corner, once inside, he pressed the button to the sixteenth floor. i  
"This is 's office." The employee informed him as the lift stopped ascending, the doors sliding open to reveal a large office with huge glass windows overlooking the city, they were on the top floor.  
On the walls were paintings of various fossils and ancient stones, with a glass table containing various stones inside located in the centre of the room, surrounded by four leathers sofas to each side.

"Ahh you must be Erik, the saviour." remarked from behind a large wooden desk, he wore a full length blue suit with matching blue tie covering a white undershirt. His grey hair covered by a bowler hat which matched the colour of the oak wood desk.

"You have saved my technician from Team Magma not once, but twice now." The president continued, his voice so assertive and loud it felt like it could shatter the glass windows. "We have received an import of Great Balls from Kanto. The ball are an upgrade on the Pokeball which offer more comfort to the captured Pokemon, therefore making it easier to capture the wild creature."  
As spoke he opened the top drawer of his desk to retrieve one of the balls, the ball looked exactly the same as a Pokeball, but instead of the top portion being crimson red, it was a deep ocean blue.  
"We plan to sell these to Pokemarts around Hoenn, but you may have one as a gift from me." To Erik's surprise, the stern businessman threw the ball over the desk for Erik to catch.

"I hear you are taking the gym challenge, young man. Very good. The next gym is in Dewford town, located on a small island to the south of here, you'll have to take a boat to get there."  
Erik hadn't yet thought about how he was going to get there, we would need to come up with a plan as he was never the strongest swimmer.  
"My son, Steven, is currently visiting the town." Stone continued, "Leading me to ask you for another favour if you would be so kind. I would ask of you to deliver a letter to him whilst on your way, and, in return, I will upgrade your Pokedex with a new feature."  
As Erik began to hand his Pokedex over to the president, the aged man pulled a letter out of his top pocket and exchanged it. He then began fiddling with the Pokedex.  
"Just entering my authorisation code, I shall not be a moment."  
Erik heard a clamour from outside. Moving over to the window he saw a group of trainers running out of the gym, lead by Grant of Team Magma. Roxanne followed moments after, but the group managed to escape her.  
"All done Erik, you will now be able to tune into the news station directly from your Pokedex."  
Erik grabbed the device out of Mr. Stone's hand and ran downstairs without a goodbye, wanting to find out what the commotion was about.

* * *

"Fools!" Roxanne cursed as she sweeped away the shards of glass laying on the gym floor. The case at the front of the gym had been smashed open, none of the badges previously inside remained.

"What happened?" Erik queried as he jogged over to the gym leader.  
"Yesterday, the law was finally passed which prohibited the use of Pokemon by trainers without a badge." Georgia replied, Roxanne's underling was helping her leader clear up the wreckage.  
"And in retaliation a group of seven came in and did a smash and grab." Roxanne screamed, "They were led by a member of Team Magma. All the badges are now in their hands, this is bad news Erik."  
"And if Magma are in control of who's allowed to continue using Pokemon, this will only increase their numbers." Georgia followed on.  
"Have you informed the police?" Erik asked, to which Roxanne gave him a quizzical look.  
"We have no police force in Hoenn, we've never needed one. Team Magma showed up about a month ago without warning."  
Erik was lost for words, deciding to leave to let the two get on with clearing up the mess.

* * *

"They let me continue without a badge because I'm not an official trainer." May answered Erik's question with her usual sweet smile.

Erik had been on his way out of Rustboro before May had caught up with him, when she had asked what his next move was Erik told her about his plan to ask to sail him to Dewford, as the old sailor owed him a favour.  
"Great idea Erik, I'll accompany you to his hut. I'm on my way back to Littleroot anyway." May had responded.

With Ziggy knowing how to cut down shrubbery, the journey through Petalburg Woods was quick and easy, May and Erik had followed the trail of scythed bushes without problem, the two now stood outside Briney's hut.

"Do you want to come with me to Dewford, I'm sure there's plenty for you to do there?" Erik asked hopefully as May prepared to say her goodbyes.  
"Sorry Erik but I have to go back to my dad." She replied despondently, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you soon though."  
"I hope." Erik blurted, causing them both to laugh nervously.  
"A young lady friend I see." Mr. Briney's hoarse voice sounded behind Erik as May walked off. The old sailor's words made Erik blush.

"Don't be shy Erik, we all had a crush at one point." A throaty laughed followed the man's words. "Now what can I do for you?"  
Erik explained his predicament, Mr. Briney nodding along to his every word, before agreeing to take him to Dewford town.

"You and your Pokemon can have a rest in the boat's cabin. Me and Peeko will steer us there!" The sailor said delightedly. The pearl white yacht docked at the beach beckoning.  
Erik and his Pokemon did indeed sleep the entire journey, waking up to the sandy beach town of Dewford.

* * *

As Erik stepped off the yacht and onto the docks, he realised that the entire town was built on the sandy beaches. Barriers comprised of sandbags piled up all along the shore, defending the town against the vicious ocean.

Each building was built of what looked like soft wood, the town being made up by a doctor's hut, a Pokemon Centre, a Gym, and half a dozen houses.  
"Where you off to my boy?" Mr. Briney inquired, a large fishing rod in his hand, "This rod is for you by the way, to capture Pokemon living within the oceans."  
"I should check out the cave to the north of the town first." Erik replied, taking the rod with a quick thank you. "It looks more like ruins than a cave, and if this "Steven" is anything like his father, he will be in there."  
"Good thinking friend, I will stay in Dewford and wait for you. Would be unfair to leave you stranded here." Another laugh erupted from the sailor's throat, it sounded to Erik as if it hurt Briney to laugh.

"Erm, but first Mr. Briney." Erik stumbled nervously around his words, "Could you please teach me how to fish?"

The wild Tentacool lashed out a tentacle at Erik, the venom on the end of the whip easy to see. Mr. Briney chuckled as the ocean-dwelling creature's limb was too short to reach Erik from the hook of the rod.  
"You've got him my boy!"  
Erik took one hand from the rod and reached into his pocket, throwing a Pokeball at the water and poison dual typed Pokemon. Capturing it.

"I'll name him Gu, for his slimy skin." Erik smiled, which caused even more seemingly painful laughter from the sailor.  
Blaze, Ice, Ziggy, Ninja and Gu. He still had one more space in his team, and that Pokemon lay in the ruins up ahead, he knew.

* * *

"Granite Cave" the sign outside had said, it was indeed, an ancient ruin Erik realised as he entered. The poorly lit cavern had a natural pathway leading straight through the middle. Wild Pokemon leapt around the place freely, some on the pathway, other's on the more built up rocky sides.

The sand filled beach linking Dewford to the cave was inhabited by trainers who were using the area to build up their team. Two of which had challenged Erik to battle.  
First up was a fisherman, who's Tentacool was easily wiped out by Ice. A backpacker tried challenging Erik next, sending out a Slakoth to battle Blaze, but had as much success in battle as the trainer before him.

Erik ventured with his team into the ruins, the narrow path leading downwards, deeper and deeper into the caverns. The entire cave got dark very quickly as Erik turned a corner, a dim light in the distance beckoned Erik towards it.  
Blaze lit up the pathway with fiery breath, leading the way.  
"Hello?" Erik's voice echoed around the stone walls as he called to the light.  
"Go back." A voice replied, the echo hiding the tone of it.  
"I'm looking for a man named Steven." Erik responded.  
"He's not here right now, just us explorers. We are conducting a dig right now, please do not disturb our work."  
Erik took their word and headed back out of the cave, to challenge the gym. Maybe the leader, Brawly, knew where Steven was.  
The light returned as the party headed back up, they had almost reached the cave entrance when a wild Makuhita ambled up to them, stubbornly blocking their path.  
Ice growled and Blaze blasted a warning shot at the ground, but the Makuhita just raised his fists into a fighting stance.  
Ninja darted out. The Nincada was extremely irritating to the rest of the team with it's constant buzzing and high energy levels, but it's speed was very handy in a fight.  
Ninja zoomed from one side of the cave to the next, but the Makuhita was able to keep up with the Nincada's movements and attacked with a quick jab, sending Erik's Pokemon flying backwards. Blaze blasted fire at the roof, using Roxanne's Pokemon's trick to cause rocks to tumble from the roof. The wild Makuhita sidestepped each one, but whilst distracted was rammed into the wall by Ziggy, who had snuck up on her foe.  
Erik threw a Pokeball, and named his newly captured Pokemon, "Ali."

* * *

Erik had healed at the Pokemon centre, knowing he'd only two further uses of it. So when Brawly stared him down with three trainers at his side, he knew he was in for a challenge.

The entire gym they were in was in fact, an actual gym. The room Erik was stood in was a mess, equipment all over the place. To his left was an open plan room with changing areas containing lockers, and another open plan room, with showers, to his right.  
"So you think you can take my badge?" Brawly growled. The gym leader was in a black, skin-tight outfit, with long, sky blue hair tied up in a knot.  
"Yes." Erik countered, he had since made note that the gym was home to fighting type trainers.

"Then if you can defeat my three friends here, come join me in the back room, my own personal arena." His gruff voice didn't suit his more pretty-boy look.

"I'll go first, I'm Laura." A woman with matching sky-blue hair challenged, she was also wearing a skin-tight black and orange outfit.  
Erik knew that both Ice and Ziggy were weak to fighting types, so it was up to Blaze, Ninja, Ali and Gu in this gym. Although he knew the latter duo were untested.  
Laura threw a Pokeball. Her Meditite emerging from it's home.

Blaze moved quickly, blasting fire at the Meditite, who in turn countered with psychic attacks. Laura's Pokemon was a dual fighting and psychic type. Blaze shrugged off the mind blasts and engulfed the Meditite in flames. The first battle in the gym was won with ease.

"Laura was always weak. Now you face me, Hideki." Another woman said, this trainer in a jet-black tank top and shorts. She sent out her Machop.

Blaze went first, another fiery blast engulfing the Machop, inflicting the fighting Pokemon with a burn. The aggressor wasn't finished however, smashing Blaze with a karate chop.  
Blaze nibbled on the berry Erik had given him to hold.  
"Thank you Devon Corporation." Erik thought, seeing his Torchic saved by the Oran berry.  
A blast of fire from the recovered Blaze preceded another karate chop from the Machop. Blaze stumbled, and fell. The fighting Pokemon moved in for the kill.

Erik looked to Ninja, his fastest Pokemon, to zoom in and save Blaze, but even his Nincada wasn't that fast.  
Machop raised his arm to finish the fight. But before he could slam it down on Blaze, the fighting Pokemon dropped. The burn received earlier had finished it off.

"You won't be so lucky against me." The final trainer mumbled, another female dressed in gym gear. "The name's Tessa."  
Blaze returned to his feet, facing off against another Meditite's psychic attacks. The Torchic summoned all the energy he had left in one final wave of flame. Defeating the Meditite but finding himself unable to stand afterwards.  
"It's okay Blaze, you did well." Erik smiled to his Pokemon, getting a weary chirp in return.  
Tessa had another Pokemon though, sending out a Machop. Erik nudged Ali into play for his first official fight.  
Ali confidently strutted out, the beefy Pokemon looking like he could match the Machop punch for punch.  
Instead of walking into the centre of the room, Ali wandered over to the lockers and began taunting Tessa's creature.  
The Machop charged in, but as it went to punch Ali, the Makuhita dodged out the way, the Machop slamming into the lockers. As the dazed Pokemon turned back around, it was met by a flurry of blows by Ali. Erik's new Makuhita had won him the right to face Brawly in battle.

* * *

Blaze flapped his wings as fast as he could, his light feathered body slowly rising from the ground.

Erik was staying the night at the Pokemon centre with his team. He knew that fighting types were weak to aerial attacks, so was working with Blaze to help him to fly. The Torchic had been at it all night, attempting to gradually lift itself from the floor, and peck with his beak.

"You've done it!" Erik rejoiced, Blaze chirping happily before crashing back down to the white tiled floor, the rest of the team being awoken by Erik's loud cheers, and were looking at the two from the king-sized bed. Each of his team were holding an Oran berry, the rest of the technician's berries had been shared between them before tomorrow's gym battle.  
Gu had been sleeping separately from the rest of the group. The Tentacool choosing to return to the ocean for the night. The water typed Pokemon had remained indifferent to the group, choosing to remain inside it's Pokeball or swim off alone since it was captured. Despite this, Erik still felt he would be able to rely on his Tentacool the next day, if need be.  
Erik and Blaze joined the rest of the group in sleep, tomorrow they battled for the second badge.

* * *

Brawly jumped up and down on the spot, whilst the Machop he had sent out into battle flexed his arms.

Blaze stood adjacent to his opponent. Erik had gone to the back room of the gym which had turned out to be a circular space surrounded by gym equipment – from weights to treadmills to punch bags. Brawly himself stood in front of a case full of badges, the room being windowless and lit up brightly by lights sunken into the roof.

Blaze wasted no time, flapping his wings and managing to hover above ground, before flying in and pecking his opponent. The Machop recoiled, giving Blaze another chance to peck at it again.  
Erik's Torchic went in for another dig, but as he hovered over, the Machop was wise to his actions. Karate chopping Blaze square in the stomach, knocking the air out of him.  
Blaze gulped down the berry that his trainer had given him. He knew now that the fighting Pokemon was unable to withstand an aerial bombardment, so flew over and pecked at the Machop again. Brawly's fighter slumping to the floor.  
Erik sighed with relief, before seeing Blaze sent flying backwards, narrowly missing a treadmill. The Machop had managed to karate chop him. Both Pokemon were now barely able to stand.  
"Just a regular potion?" Brawly laughed as Erik ran over to Blaze with a potion he had bought with the money gained from defeating Roxanne.  
The Dewford gym leader moved over to his own Pokemon and took out of his pocket a potion that was yellow in colour, instead of the usual purple and white.  
"This here is a super potion, twice as effective as your own!"

As Brawly healed his Pokemon back up to full health, Blaze moved quickly over to a punching bag. The Machop began charging, fist raised.  
Blaze sliced open the bag with his sharp claws, sand slowly falling to the wooden floor, which he then kicked up at the charging Machop. Followed by a blast of fire.  
The Machop shook his head vigorously, in a desperate attempt to get the sand out of his eyes. Blaze picked up more sand in his claws and hovered over in front of a treadmill, the Machop charged in again.  
Blaze released the sand into Machop's face. The blinded Pokemon couldn't stop himself in time and crashed into a treadmill, the machine falling down on top of him.  
Erik called the weakened Blaze back, sending out Ali to face whatever was up next. It turned out that Brawly had a Makuhita of his own.  
"I see you have a Makuhita too, Erik." Brawly sniped. "Mine has been training here for weeks now, yours has no chance!" The gym leader paused for a moment, noticing Ali holding his Oran berry. "I see, Makuhita, your foe has a berry. Sort that out for me please, will you?"  
Brawly's Makuhita responded, moving with speed it knocked the berry out of Ali's hand before eating it himself.  
Ali backed away, before grabbed a fistful of sand and throwing it at his opponent. The opposing Makuhita bulked himself up, flexing his arm muscles before rubbing most of the sand out of it's eyes.  
Ali looked to Erik who shot his Pokemon an encouraging smile back. Ali slammed in with a series of punches, but his blows had little effect on the clearly superior Makuhita, so Erik called his Pokemon back to try a new plan.  
"Gu, I've never tested you in battle before, but we need you now."  
Erik's Tentacool crawled out, surprisingly quick out of water. But Brawly's Makuhita moved quicker, grabbing sand and throwing it at Gu, causing Erik's fighter to miss with a poisonous jab.  
Gu, shook the sand off his body and blared out supersonic sound waves, causing the Makuhita to stumble around confused, punching the treadmill believing it was his opponent. The Tentacool took advantage of the situation and managed to poison Brawly's creature, provoking the Makuhita to swing a punch with full force.

The blow hit Gu square on, a strike so hard it took the life right from the Tentacool.  
Erik turned to call another Pokemon in, he hadn't known Gu long enough to be able to fully grieve. Ali shot over to Gu without waiting for Erik's say-so, checking for any signs of life from the Tentacool before lowering his head in shame when releasing there was none.  
Ali ran at his opponent, laying into him with a flurry of punches. The Makuhita retaliating by punching Ali in the chest. Ali slumped to his knees, the wind had been knocked out of and his foe was now standing over him, ready to apply the finishing blow.  
Makuhita extended his fist towards Ali, but fell down halfway through the strike. The poison in his veins had taken full effect.  
In death, Gu had won Erik his second gym badge.


	10. Storm On The Beach

Chapter Six – Storm on the Beach

"Team Magma increases dramatically in size." Blasted Erik's Pokedex. The rookie trainer had tuned into the news after watching Gu's body float away in the sea, the Tentacool's remains bobbing up and down a few times before sinking beneath the watery surface, returning home.

"After the break-in at Rustboro gym, the criminal group have gotten their hands on all of the region's Stone badges." The reporter for 'Region Round-Up' continued, "The gang are currently going on recruitment drives all over the island, looking to bolster their numbers by handing out badges to willing trainer's currently without one, who would otherwise have had their licenses' taken away."

"This is working out just the way they want it to." Erik thought to himself, "Someone linked with Magma must have a lot of influence."

* * *

Ali led the team through one of the cave's hidden passages. It was so narrow that Erik had to walk sideways in order to fit through it, carrying his bag by his side.

Brawley had informed them that Steven was indeed inside Granite cave, deep within the ruins. Upon returning to the cavern, Ali had taken the initiative and shown Erik a hidden pathway down to the deeper depths, the Makuhita knowing his home like the back of his own gloved hand.

Erik clambered out of the narrow passageway, to see himself arrive into a vast open space. It was like a huge chunk of rock had been taken out of the cave leaving this huge area, with four solid flat walls, three of which were plain.

The surface on the far side, however, contained what looked to be ancient drawings of one gigantic Pokemon that was shaped like a dinosaur, or some type of lizard, breathing fire. The creature had strange, horse-shoe shape symbols on each arm.

"Hello there." Came a calm voice, a kindness flowing through the words.

Erik's eyes snapped to a man standing below the drawing, he hadn't noticed him until he had spoken. The long, green haired gentleman wiped dust off his suit after he realised he had company.

"Steven, I presume?" Erik asked to which he got a cool nod in reply.

"This Pokemon on the wall here is ancient, possessing tremendous power. Rumours have surfaced that it is laying dormant somewhere here in Hoenn."

"Hopefully it stays dormant" Erik remarked, noticing the creatures destructive power as the drawings depicted it burning down a village, people running in all directions.

"Hopefully." Steven echoed, "But there are those who believe capturing a Pokemon of this power would make them almost invincible." Steven reached out and calmly took the letter from Erik's hand. "From my father I presume, thank you. What is your name?"

"I'm Erik, your father asked me to deliver it for him."

"It takes some man to be able to gain my father's trust. How many badges do you have?" Steven had a confused expression on his face.

"Just won my second today."

"To have only two badges, but my fathers trust. You must be a special trainer, Erik." Steven strolled off as he spoke with a confident stride, "It was nice meeting you, Erik. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other soon."

* * *

Peeko grabbed the package by it's strapping out of a fellow Wingull's beak. The flying Pokemon had flown directly towards her trainer and Erik as they sat motionless at Dewford docks, sitting on the deck of Briney's cloud-white boat.

The sailor took the package, opening the note on top of it, before turning to Erik.

"The President has another favour to ask of you, Erik."

"What this time?" Erik said dryly, feeling he was becoming a delivery boy for the owner of the Devon Corporation.

"This is the same package you took from that awful Magma member back in Rusturf tunnel, the President has asked you to deliver it to a man named Captain Stern, at Slateport docks."

"Where's Slateport?" Erik asked quizzically, and more importantly, he thought, what was in it for him?

"On the way to the third gym, which is in Mauville. The President realises to get to there you would have to go through Slateport anyway."

"So there's nothing in it for me? I'm just his delivery boy?" Erik snapped, which seemed to take his sailor friend aback.

"You can refuse if you want to." Briney calmly spoke. "I assume we are docking at Slateport's southern beach anyway, so I can take them if you wish?"

"No, it's fine." Erik sighed, "Sorry for snapping. I will deliver these parts then I am done helping this man." He finished, firmly.

* * *

The ocean pathway and warm sands of Slateport beach combined to create Route 109, allowing Erik to fish in the waters for a potential new addition to his party.

Asking to stop the boat so he could do just that, Erik cast the fishing line off the edge of the yacht and into the deep blue sea. A Tentacool gracefully swam up to the line, taking the bait. Erik quickly reacted by lobbing a Pokeball, capturing the creature easily. He named her, "Lady" for how graceful she was, before they carried on until the boat collided into the soft sands of the beach.

Departing the boat, Erik could see Slateport city in the distance. A huge metropolis of tall buildings, bright lights and noise loomed over the beach. In front of him were deck chairs and umbrellas, which were hung low, blocking his view of the rest of the beach.

The baking hot sun beat down through a clear blue sky with the salty smell of the sea filling Erik's lungs as he moved forwards. Strangely, the sound of Pokemon battles reverberated around his ears.

"I guess the beach is a popular training zone." He thought to himself, before pushing a umbrella to the side to reveal the entirety of the beach.

It was a war zone.

Deck chairs were upended. Scorch marks filled the sand, some still smoking. Everywhere Erik looked, battles were raging. But they were not friendly training battles, instead full-on fights between Pokemon relentless urged on by their trainers.

A bulky man who looked like a sailor sighted Erik and bolted over to him.

"You!" He stormed, "I challenge you!"

"What's going on here?" Erik inquired, the man's skin-tight white outfit drenched with sweat as he replied.

"Noone on this beach has a badge, this is our last chance for one." He growled, desperation clearly had overcome him.

"What do you mean?" Erik continued.

" is in possession of five Stone badges, the last five trainers standing are all invited to his hut over there to receive one." The sailor pointed as he spoke, Erik following the finger to a wooden sand bar in the far corner of the beach.

"How is the 'competition' so popular, the announcement has just been passed and badges stolen only yesterday?"

"It's been planned for a week now, from even before the announcement banning trainers. And to get myself a badge I am going to take you out of the competition!"

The sailor's Machop was to be Blaze's opponent.

A wild swing by the fighting Pokemon took Blaze off guard, catching him in the jaw and sending him backwards. A roar of flame shooting into the air harmlessly having been smacked out of Blaze's mouth. Machop followed in with another wild lash, but Blaze rolled over causing the fist to land softly in the sand. Erik's Torchic blasted another wave of fire, engulfing the Machop in flames, who managed to get another blow into Blaze's chest before being consumed by the inferno.

Blaze slouched weakly to the floor, as Ali strutted over to comfort him.

Erik looked up to see a young trainer giving him a look, the boy's Zigzagoon winning him a battle against another teenaged fighter.

"Hey, I've already won two battles today, you're next!" The boy shouted over, as his Zigzagoon rushed at Ali.

As the Makuhita went to use his fighting type advantage on the normal typed Pokemon, the Zigzagoon kicked up a mass of sand, blinding Erik's warrior. Through the mist of sand, Ali was blind to his opponent flying through and headbutting him, followed by a wild scratch with sharp claws. As the Zigzagoon went in for what looked like the finishing blow, Ali grabbed the creature by it's fur, slamming blow after blow into it and etching out a narrow victory.

"Hey, leave my brother's Zigzagoon alone!" Came the cry from another child trainer, a young female with dark eyes. "My Azumarill with finish your Pokemon off whilst they are weak." She declared, flicking her even darker hair from her face.

Ninja zoomed out, darting from side to side and using Zigzagoons trick of kicking up sand to try to blind his foe. The opposing Pokemon recoiled but managed to summon a mountain of water at the Nincada. Ninja was almost washed away, before Ice leapt in. Erik's Poochyena's icy bite was ineffective against the Azumarill's watery surface.

Blinded by sand, the young girl's Pokemon missed with water blasts and wild swipes whilst Ice kept his fangs in a tight lock on his foe.

"Do it for your master!" The girl shouted, who's Pokemon responded to her by grabbing Ice and slamming the Poochyena into the ground. "Yay!" Came a childish squeal, "The sand may be soft but my Azzy is strong!"

Ice struggled to get back up, the Azumarill preparing for a final blow, until Ziggy saved the Pokemon who had once tormented her, ramming into the Azumarill with a voracious headbutt

* * *

Ice stumbled along the beach, heading straight for the beach house. The Poochyena's trainer deciding he wanted to stop this madness.

"This is Magma's doing." Erik informed his team, "Lady looks too weak to battle, she needs training." He said about his newly captured Tentacool, who was off swimming. Like Gu, she seemed to prefer swimming in the ocean to the company of her new companions. Erik turned to Ziggy, "You're the only one who's fit enough to fight." He said sadly.  
Ice barked a reply.

"Okay," Erik chuckled, "You too." He said, ruffling the Poochyena's fur.

As Erik put his hand on the hut's crimson red door, another sailor shouted from behind him.  
"Hey kid!" The man's voice was deep and vicious. "You think you're worthy of that badge? Prove it."

"I'm not trying for the badg.." Erik started before the big sailor interrupted.

"Of course you're not. Liar." The man threw a Pokeball, a Wingull coming out of the spherical mechanism.

Ice stepped up, wanting to prove to Erik that he could still be relied upon.

The Wingull shot out a blast of water, to which Ice leapt over and jumped onto the flying creature, his fangs gripping into the Wingull and taking it out of the air. As the two of them crashed to the surface, the Wingull was the one who took the brunt of the fall. Ice quickly finished it off.

The sailor threw his other Pokeball, a Machop coming out this time.

"Ice come back!" Erik shouted, both Ice and Ziggy were weak to fighting Pokemon so he would have to use the weakened Blaze or Ali.

Blaze put himself forward, hobbling weakly onto the battlefield.

The Torchic knew his trainer once again needed him, so he would have to be at the top of his game. A long, drawn out fight ensued with Blaze managing to apply the final blow, but was now unable to stand. Ali weakly strode over and gave the Torchic an arm in support.

They all entered the beach house together.

The entire hut consisted of a single room. It was infact, a small cafe, with the tables turned over. Behind a counter at the far end of the room was an aging man in a black suit, what little hair he had left made up a white beard. Large front teeth completing the goat-like look.  
"You are my five winners!" announced, a whistling sound accompanying his every word. Erik realised he was stood in the room with four other trainers.

"No fair!" Shouted a child trainer, who still wore a rubber ring around his waist. "Those two are your bodyguards, they haven't even beaten anyone!"

A woman in her mid-twenties echoed the child's sentiments. "I agree with Simon, this is completely unfair."

Mr. Sea just laughed, until Erik shouted, his voice causing the rest of the room's occupants to turn around.

"You're just a puppet for Team Magma." The trainer from Kanto started, "You are looking to boost your ranks with trainers who have no other choice but to battle for those badges."A stunned silence momentarily engulfed the room.

"Whoever takes this trainer down gets his badge. To give to a friend!" The bald man announced, to which Simon and the woman turned to Erik eagerly, the boy throwing out an Azurill.

Ziggy charged in before any other member of Erik's team could react, knowing she was the only one fit enough to fight.

"She's come such a long way." Erik thought proudly to himself, a smile appearing on his face. "Ziggy!" He called out, "Let's do this!"

Ziggy purred in response before ramming into the Azurill with her head, using the same technique she had seen another Zigzagoon use back on the beach. The water Pokemon responded by blasting bubbles filled with acidic liquid at it's opponent.

The fight lasted a couple of minutes, both Pokemon going back and forth with the same moves. Erik's Pokemon managed to grind out a victory but she was now as battle worn and injured as the rest of the party.

A Goldeen shot through the air, straight at Ziggy. The water Pokemon seemed to float, flapping her tail rapidly in order to propel itself.

Ice jumped in, returning the favour from earlier and saving Ziggy's life. Ice was clearly struggling, barely managing to muster the strength in order to do so.

Erik's Poochyena bared his fangs at the Goldeen, the fish Pokemon responded by blasting water straight at Ice.

Ziggy struggled back to her feet, trying to gather enough strength to save Ice once again, but failed.

Ice closed his eyes as the blast hit Erik's weakened Pokemon straight on. But Ice felt nothing.  
The Poochyena opened to eyes to see Ali in front of him, shielding him from a relentless stream of aqua. After the Goldeen stop firing to pause for breath, Ali collapsed.

The Makuhita had sacrificed himself to save Ice.

Full of primal rage, Ice tried to get to his feet so he could retaliate, but was unable to stand. The Goldeen inhaled breath in preparation for the finishing blast of water, but Ziggy rammed into the side of it.

With a wink to Ice, the Zigzagoon slumped to the floor, exhausted.

Ali was gone. Ziggy, Ice and Blaze were slumped on the floor, too weak to move. Ninja was the only one still standing, barely. Erik's last hope feebly pushing himself forward to meet the two bodyguards who were now slowly approaching.

Erik knew his team wouldn't last, this was the end of his journey, he knew.

"Why didn't I leave the situation be. I didn't have to be the hero and take down the bad guy here." He sighed, as the first of the bulky duo sent out a Poochyena.

Ninja buzzed and began moving through the air rapidly. He managed to use his speed to his advantage, landing on top of the Poochyena before digging knife-like claws into his foe's back, sapping the life out of it.

Erik could see that his Nincada had used the last of his energy doing so, but Ninja had won him the fight, or so he had thought.

Ninja leapt off from the back of the defeated Poochyena, to be faced by a charging Carvanha. The first bodyguard had instantly sent out his other Pokemon, attempting to take down Ninja whilst he was distracted.

The Carvanha was closing in, surrounded by a jet of water.

"No, Ziggy, wait!" Erik shouted, as his Zigzagoon pushed herself to her feet, striving to rescue Ninja.

Instead of the Nincada taking the blow, the Carvanha rocketed straight into Ziggy. Her winning momentum had failed her, she had been too weak to withstand the impact.

Ziggy's lifeless body slammed against the wall, before slumping to the floor. Erik's eyes flicked back to Ninja, the battle was still going on and he could feel his journey coming to it's conclusion.

That wasn't what hurt the most. What was destroying Erik was the fact that he had made some good friends, who all fought for each other and himself, and these friends were now falling one by one to Magma's puppet, .

The Carvanha readied itself to charge again at Ninja, the predatory creature preparing to finish off the bug Pokemon.

As the bodyguard's Pokemon opened it's jaws to eat the Nincada alive, it was crushed by a flaming table.

Blaze had used the last of his energy to set a table on fire, Ice using the last of his own to charge into it, sending it crashing into the Carvanha.

"He's all yours, Dwayne." The defeated bodyguard said to his colleague.

"Cheers mate." Dwayne followed, his rough voice beset by a thick accent. "His three remaining Pokemon, the Torchic, Poochyena and Nincada, are all pretty much dead anyway. This won't be a problem."

As Erik studied his team, he saw the bodyguard's words rang true. None of the three could stand and Lady was off swimming in the ocean, she wouldn't be here anytime soon.  
Dwayne sent out a Tentacool of his own, the creature charging straight for Blaze. Erik's Torchic was too weak to defend himself so sat there unable to get out of the way, Ninja and Ice were too weak to jump in and save him.

"Blaze." Erik shouted, "I need you now more than ever. Please, PLEASE, don't die."  
Erik felt tears streaming down his face as he continued, "Remember String, Speedy, Bunny, Gully, Gu, Ali, Ziggy. Don't let their deaths be for nothing. Keep going. Please." Erik shouted through an ocean of tears, as he mentioned each of his fallen Pokemon their faces came into his mind, all of them had sacrificed themselves to help him get where he was today. And now he was about to lose everything.

A bright white light suddenly engulfed Blaze. The Tentacool ramming straight into the shining beacon, and Erik's Torchic was gone.

Dwayne's Pokemon flew through the air and landed right by him, the bodyguards Machop charging in to be met with a double kick by the newly evolved Combusken. Once again, when Erik had needed saving most, Blaze came through for him. The fighting fire beast that had emerged from the bright light stormed up to and grabbed him, tall enough to be standing face to face with the man.

The newly evolved Combusken shared Torchic's bright yellow and orange feathers, but had grown from a small chicken into a fully formed animal.

Erik ran over to who was now pinned up against the wall by Blaze.

"Why are you doing this?!" Erik demanded, he could feel his voice straining as rage flowed through it.

"Pl..Please." pleaded, eyes fixed on Blaze who looked ready to burn him to a crisp.

"You're working for Magma aren't you? Whats the plan?"

"They…they.."

"Out with it!" Erik roared, Blaze screeching in tune with his trainer.

"It was for my son, he's only just started his journey." The man looked set to burst into tears, his body shaking furiously through his fear. "Magma said they'd give him a badge if I held a little competition."

"What would have happened to the five victors?"

"Maxie is in town, the five would have gone for a talk with him to collect their badges and be persuaded to join the gang."

"Maxie?" Erik asked quizzically, he hadn't heard the name before.

"The leader of Magma. He's heading to Slateport on a secret mission."

"What mission?" Erik growled.

"Please. I don't know, I've told you everything."

Erik told his word and left the man slumped on the floor, a shaken mess.

* * *

Blaze stood at a height with Erik as they looked around Slateport. Ice and Ninja hobbled up alongside them. Lady now with them in her Pokeball.

The city was huge, on the right hand side huge waves crashed against the shore from the vast ocean that neighboured Slateport. Bordering the sea was a shipyard, museum and harbour, each of which was bustling with activity.

A housing district took up the centre of the city, containing shops and a Pokemon centre within it. The famous Slateport market resided to the left, tents and canopies abundant as Erik saw goods of all types being sold, from incense to dolls to herbal remedies.

Nothing there piqued Erik's interest however, he had a task to fulfil.

* * *

"Stern? He'll at the the museum." A bald man named Dock had informed Erik as he'd entered the shipyard enquiring for the captain.

A huge overpass loomed overhead, Erik stood on Route 110 which lay to the north of Slateport, hoping to add another member to his team. Deciding that President Stone's favour could wait a little longer whilst he caught a new Pokemon.

* * *

Route 110 connected Slateport to Mauville city. The grassy terrain lay above a large lake, and was a common training spot for trainers looking to challenge the third gym. Overlooking the route was a huge overpass, known as the "Cycling Road." Many used the bicycle-only pathway to avoid Pokemon or get between the two cities quickly.

Erik went into the long grass in hope of finding a new partner.

Instantly, a green blob rolled past him, grabbing the berry Erik had picked from a tree as he'd entered the route out of Ice's paw and eating it herself.

The Poochyena growled, rearing up and baring his fangs after having been only just healed at the Pokemon centre, but Erik called him off. Instead the trainer threw a Pokeball and captured the Gulpin, naming it "Roller."

Blaze cried out.

A group of people dressed in full body crimson robes darted past and were headed straight for Slateport, Erik let them get a head start in order to follow them discretely.

As they re-entered the city, Erik and his team saw the group of Magma members join up with another, the expanded group then entering the museum.


	11. Slateport

Chapter Seven – Slateport

"Thank y-you" the shaken receptionist stammered as Erik handed over the fifty Pokedollar entrance fee to the museum.

"You're welcome, have the guys in the red cloaks given you much trouble?" Erik glanced around the room as he asked, seeing seven Magma members filling out the museum's ground floor.

"They didn't pay" she replied, hiding behind her desk, "but other than that they haven't given us any trouble, they are all just kind of standing there, waiting for something."

Erik flashed the worried lady a half smile before making his way through the museum, walking directly towards the stairs that led to the institution's other floor. He could see that the receptionist wasn't wrong, the seven Magma members were just stood still, seemingly admiring the displays.

The Museum's ground floor was crammed with glass cases, each one containing an ocean-themed item – from old ship models to fossils to water samples. The crimson figures overlooking the displays were speaking to each other in hushed tones.

"If Grant didn't fail at Rustboro we wouldn't be here right now" one growled to another.

"Wait 'til the boss gets here, then the fun begins" whispered another.

Erik smiled as he made his way up the stairs, making sure he remained inconspicuous, he doubted any of the group would recognise him but wanted to make absolutely sure, he needed to be in and out before the boss arrived so he could drop off the parts to Stern and avoid any trouble.

The first floor had the same aqua-blue carpet and walls as the ground floor, but the displays up here were much more prominent. The large, open room was fronted by a miniature map of Hoenn. Erik studied the scaled-down island – it was surrounded by deep oceans and filled with forest. The north was mountainous, with an active volcano, whereas the south had many beaches which Erik could attest to.

Overshadowing the map was a large model of the ship under construction at Stern's shipyard, the , a huge cloud-white cruise ship intended to deliver people in and out of the Hoenn region. The far end of the room featured containers which each consisted of a water sample from another region. Standing by the Kanto sample was an aging man wearing a moss-green suit with matching coloured fedora.

"Captain Stern?" Erik enquired, as he made his way to the man who was fingering his moustache.

"Yes young man, what can I do for you?" The man's voice was soft and friendly.

Erik told him about the package as he reached into his bag, and handed it over. A brimming smile engulfed the captain's face.

"Thank you Erik! I have been waiting a long time for these parts and now I can finally take part in an underwater expedition for precious stones. I must thank Mr. Stone and tell him what a great job his delivery boy has done!"

Erik felt a flash of rage at being called a delivery boy but quickly quashed it, smiled and went to make his way out the museum.

Suddenly the anger re-materialised.

All seven of the Team Magma grunts stormed up the stairway, Pokeballs in hand.  
"Stern!" the lead one called out from under his hood, "we require your assistance."  
Erik blocked their way, Blaze's Pokeball in his own hand.

"What am I doing?" He thought to himself, recalling what had happened on the beach when he got involved in something he shouldn't have, he shook the painful memories from his mind before shouting out, "You want Stern?! You have to go through me first."

"Alright, a seven on one battle it is!" The lead one spoke again with a bark of laughter, a smirk remaining afterwards on his shadowed face.

As this was happening, another man came up the stairs. Wearing a red and black labcoat with red jeans and boots. The seven grunts parted to let him through as the man eyed Erik through thick-rimmed glasses, his long auburn hair flowing as he strolled through the room.

"Brave" he spoke with authority to Erik, though his voice remained calm.

"You must be Maxie." Erik retorted.

"And you, Erik" came the instant reply, the man had an aura about him which demanded respect.

"What do you want with Captain Stern?"

"We would like his help, as we would like yours."

"Mine?" Erik asked quizzically.

"Yes, you have proved yourself a worthy trainer and would progress far in our order. We have gotten off on the wrong foot I believe, unlike you've been told via the media, our goals are noble, not barbaric nor evil."

"Noble? You cheat and steal!" Erik snapped.

"Only from the privileged and corrupted authorities" again, the reply was instant and calm, "We intend to propel humanity to even greater heights of progress and evolution, we live on land and are running out of space to grow here in Hoenn, the authorities banning Pokemon elsewhere has caused vast increases in the population, to accommodate everyone, we must increase the landmass."

"And just how are you going to do that, and how will Stern help with it?" Erik enquired, feeling he was listening to the words of a mad man.  
"I can see you need more persuasion before you are ready to join us, Erik." Maxie pondered for a moment before continuing, "I would like to see your abilities for myself in battle, I will use only my weaker Pokemon for now to give you a chance, if you win then we will all leave without a further word, if I win, Stern comes with us. Fair?"

"Deal." Erik snapped, feeling insulted and wanting to prove Maxie wrong.

Blaze roared at his opponent, the Combusken trying to intimidate the Numel he was facing off against.

"I've heard all about you and your Blaze, the bond that you have with your first ever Pokemon." Maxie's voice remained calm and assertive.

"How do you know so much about me?" Erik snapped, before composing himself, "I cannot let him get into my head" he hissed under his breath.

Maxie replied with only a smile, before ordering his Numel to blast Blaze with flame, Erik's Pokemon absorbing the fire attack.

"Why would he attack a fire Pokemon with fire?" Erik thought, before Blaze strolled up to his adversary and kicked him through one of the water containers, the Numel being extremely weak to water as he was both a fire and ground type, the liquid poured out of the container and onto Maxie's creature. Blaze knew he had defeated his opponent with ease as it thrashed and struggled against the water in vain.

Maxie sent out a Zubat next, Erik countering with Ice. Although his Poochyena was low on confidence, with Maxie seemingly not even trying, he knew that this was the perfect opportunity to restore some of Ice's self-belief.

Ice leapt onto the flying creature and sunk ice-filled fangs into it, the Zubat tried fighting back with a wild bite but was unsuccessful, the poisonous flying Pokemon was incredibly weak and under trained, falling easily in battle to Ice's attacks.

"You could at least try!" Erik snapped again.

"I wanted to see your bond with your Pokemon, it's truly incredible."

Maxie threw out another Numel onto the battlefield, so Erik allowed Roller his first taste of action. The Gulpin rolled around the room to move, coughing up sludge at the Numel. The ground Pokemon then tried attacking Roller with blasts of fire, but the Gulpin rolled out of the way each time, dodging every attack. Instead of hitting Roller, the flames hit the carpet and displays, causing the room to catch fire.

Stern and Blaze lifted up the containers filled with water, attempting to extinguish the flames, but were slow in doing so. Roller was left with nowhere to go as the fire spread and ending up being hit by one of Numel's attacks, weakly rolling back to Erik to be withdrawn into it's Pokeball.

With Ninja being weak to fire attacks, Erik sent Lady into the fray for her first taste of battle, but despite being a Water type, she was just too weak. The Numel rammed into her and sent her flying back further than she should've gone, Erik had underestimated just how weak Lady was as she lay unmoving, flames creeping closer to her. Maxie's Pokemon moved in for the kill, it inhaled breath ready for a final spit of fire, when it was sent rocketing into a water container by another kick from Blaze, the Combusken then pouring water over Lady and the surrounding fires.

Lady coughed back into consciousness, Blaze carrying her frail body back to Erik.

"The way your Pokemon fight for each other is remarkable, you are all like family." Maxie was still calm, despite being defeated. "I have seen what I wanted to, I am very much looking forward to the day you join us Erik."

"That's not going to happen" Erik snapped.

"Oh, it will. When you find out the truth about everything that is going on. When you become desperate and your Pokemon fall and falter leaving you with nothing left. When you grow from being an angry, hurt little child into a man hardened by pain, You will become one of us. you will one day take my place. This, I promise you."

* * *

Erik awoke tired and groggy, he had hardly slept the previous night after remembering Maxie's promise the day before. Blaze looked up at him from the hotel room floor, having slept as badly as his trainer, channeling Erik's anxiety.

"We need to go through Route 110 to Mauville, get our third badge" Erik whispered to his closest friend, who chirped in agreement.

Erik heard a crash from across the room, a plate had fallen from the table as Roller tried eating the contents.

"You won't like that cereal, Roller. Thats human food!" Erik chuckled, as his Gulpin seemed nonplussed by his comments and continued eating the food. Ninja and Ice were still asleep underneath the bed, with Lady off swimming in the ocean away from the group as usual. Erik decided he would get a couple more hours rest before heading off, Blaze chirped happily at the decision.

* * *

"It's Lisia, it's Lisia" were the screams and shouts from outside the contest centre. Erik had been making his way out of Slateport when he heard a commotion from outside the large brick building on the edge of the city.

"What's going on?" Erik enquired to one of the people screaming, a young teenaged girl with blonde ponytails.

"How do you not know?! It's Lisia the famous contest winner!" Squealed the girl.

"What's a contest? They don't have those in Kanto?"

"Have you been living under a rock or are you just stupid?" The girl retorted, "Everyone knows that people challenge each other to contests with their Pokemon, not everyone wants to be a trainer you know, you don't even need a licence for contests."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, contests can be performed in five categories: Cool, smart, strong, cute and beautiful. Each categories has two rounds, the first is where the Pokemon is presented to the audience and points are given for the best reaction. The second is the performance round wher-"

"I've heard enough, you're boring me, who's Lisia." Erik interrupted.

"Rude! Lisia is the best! Her and Altaria are famous for being the best at contests."

"AND NOW" The woman who Erik assumed was Lisia announced, her lime-green hair tied up in a ponytail, she was wearing nothing but a short skirt and tube top, both were as white as her Altaria's wings.

"I will pick out one of the audience" Lisia continued, "and this member of the audience will be my scouted star."

"PICK ME!" The girl next to Erik screeched, leaping into the air and knocking him to the ground.

"Oh poor boy!" Lisia cried, running over to Erik and helping him back to his feet, "You shall be my scouted star!" She yelled, feeling sorry for him whilst grabbing her new star's hand and holding it in the air to be greeted by a roar from the audience. Erik shot a grin at the girl who had knocked him over as he made his way into the contest hall.

* * *

"So that is how you'll win this contest" Lisia smiled as she finished talking. In truth, Erik hadn't been paying attention to a word she had said as he looked around the dressing room planning his escape, he couldn't cope being here much longer.

"Actually," Erik began, "I do not want to compete, I was only being nosey outside, I hate this place to be honest, all happy and oblivious to the world. How can you dance and sing with Pokemon, pretending to be happy, when gangs are taking over the land?"

"Excuse me?!" Emma responded instead of her friend, the red haired woman was in charge of the contest centre and was helping Erik along with her friend Lisia prepare. "Lisia is the best there is, how dare you talk to her like that!"

"If she's so good why don't we have a battle?!" Erik thundered, before Lisia spoke calmly to cool the situation.

"I don't battle, besides, why all this fighting when we are going to have a little fun contest in a minute. Emma, please lend Erik your Pikachu as his Pokemon are nowhere near ready for a contest."

"Sure thing," Emma smiled before turning back to glare at Erik whilst handing him a Pokeball. "I'm not an official trainer therefore my Pikachu isn't registered to me, so can be used by anyone."

Erik released the Pikachu from it's spherical home, before gasping in shock. The electric-typed Pokemon was in a red jacket with black shorts and red, fake eyebrows. The Pikachu immediately started dancing, spinning around on her tiptoes and waving her hands in the air.

"We will leave you and Pikachu to get ready," Lisia smiled, "I expect you both in that contest hall in ten minutes." Emma followed her out through the back door into the hall.

Erik saw his chance, he withdrew the Pikachu back into it's Pokeball and ran, he couldn't stand being here any longer so took the Pokemon with him without thinking. As he exited the changing room out the front door and into the Lobby, he picked up a couple of food items laid out on the table for his Pokemon, a "Rage Candy Bar" and a "Sweetheart". He exited the building and ran out onto Route 110 without looking back.

* * *

The sun was setting, and a chill now took the air. Erik was exhausted from a busy day of battling with trainers. Route 110 was packed with trainers looking for action, Erik had been forced to take the lower pathway as he didn't have a bike, the lower road full of thick grass, stretched out over a lake.

"Sorry Dancer" Erik whispered to his newly nicknamed Pikachu, "we can't go back there, not even to return you." A shiver flowing through his spine as he thought about the contest centre he had escaped from this morning.

Dancer looked sad, even her movements were slow and ponderous instead of the fluid dancing she was performing in the dressing room, she wanted nothing more than to go home. Erik felt his new Pokemon's sorrow, flicking on his 'Region round-up' on his Pokenav for a change of scene.

"For some unknown reason Team Magma are retreating from Slateport, and have now been heading towards the active volcano, Mt. Chimney" the reported stated, "some speculate that they may be returning to their base, which could be hidden inside the mountain."

Erik recoiled, if there base is up there then the authorities should assemble a team to take them down, why wouldn't they? He thought back to what Maxie said about the authorities being weak and corrupt, for them not even to have a police force something must be going on.

"Team Magma's numbers have bolstered significantly since their recruitment drive with Stone badges" the reporter continued, "and despite an apparent setback in Slateport, their rise is set to carry on."

Erik wondered if he was strong enough to take them on by himself, he had been training all day. A lady named Isabel had sent out a Plusle and Minun against him which Ninja dispatched with ease, too quick for them to shoot down with bolts of electricity he continuously swiped at them with his claws. Roller had defeated a Roselia sent out by another trainer, before teaming up with Blaze to defeat another Plusle and Minun in a double battle with a pair of twins. Roller then defeated Miguel's Skitty and even Lady got in on the action, defeating Andrew's trio of Magikarps. Ice and Blaze performed some training of their own, racing each other up and down the route to try and build their stamina, speed and fitness.

Erik looked at Roller, the Gulpin was currently eating some of the grass, and thought about how the Pokemon he had caught on this very route was becoming a key member of his team, Lady was becoming more powerful too after winning against some Magikarps, using the terrain to her advantage. Dancer, however, had refused to battle with the team, instead skulking around and lagging behind them.

"Yoo-hoo!" A shrill shout came from a feminine voice behind Erik, he immediately thought of Lisia and Emma, had they caught him?

"Hey Erik, it's been ages!" May spoke through a wide smile, "how've you been?"

* * *

"Magma are killing the region Erik, I hate them" May finished, the two having had a long chat to catch up with each other's lives as Dancer caught up with them.

"Oh Erik your Pikachu is so cute" May exclaimed, before Erik explained the whole situation with Dancer and the contest centre. Her reaction shocked him.

"How are you any better than Team Magma, you are just like them, stealing from innocent people!" She screamed at him, "Return him at once, Erik, or I will never speak to you again" she crossed her arms, glaring at Erik the whole time.

"I don't want to go back there, I was trapped there!" Erik countered, feeling May's fury rising with every word he spoke.

"Fine, you know what Erik, I got you wrong" she continued. Erik could feel himself panicking each time she opened her mouth, he didn't know what to do, "I thought you were one of the good guys, if you won't return that Pikachu then I will. We will have a mock battle."

"You're challenging me to a fight?" Erik blurted.

"A mock battle" May repeated, "as I am a researcher it doesn't have to be official, if one of our Pokemon is about to be defeated, we recall them and consider them unusable for the rest of the fight. If I win, you go to the contest hall and return that Pikachu. Straight. Away."

"Okay, and if I win?"

"Do whatever you want."

* * *

Ice faced up against May's Shroomish, Erik was torn in half about what to do, he had never lost a battle and didn't want to start now. He also wanted to fight for his rights, scared to go back to the contest centre. But at the same time, if he won then May might never speak to him again.

Ice started off on the front foot, clearly buoyed by his victory against Maxie's Zubat. The Poochyena crunched down on Shroomish, but in doing so caused the grass Pokemon to release spores into the air. Ice was paralysed inhaling the spores, but managed to carry on regardless, his cold fangs freezing the life out of May's creature.

"Ice, don't kill it!" Erik called out to his Pokemon, who suddenly released his half-dead opponent from his jaws, the Shroomish rolled weakly back to May who took out it's Pokeball, withdrawing it.

May reached for her second Pokeball and sent out a Slugma. Erik gave Lady a chance, shooting his Tentacool a smile and some encouraging words as she used her tentacles to walk out onto the field of battle. Lady stood up straight, fulling stretching out her arms to seem taller, then screeched supersonic soundwaves at the Slugma, confusing May's fire type. The fire slug leapt at Lady in retaliation, but the Tentacool leapt out of the way, leaving the Slugma to slam into a railing which separated the path from the lake.

Lady took the opportunity to lay some toxic spikes on the ground, coughing up small purple nails brimming with poison. The Slugma blasted Lady with fire whilst she was distracted, but her slimy surfaced soaked up the flame.

"Lady's really coming along well" Erik thought to himself, seeing how Lady was using her brain and anything to her advantage reminded him of Ziggy.

Erik shook the thought of his fallen Zigzagoon from his head and returned his gaze to the battle, seeing his Pokemon shoot a stream of poisonous liquid at the Slugma who coughed and choked as the ooze hit his magma-like surface. The Slugma charged through the liquid but in its confused state, missed Lady and fell into the lake.

"SLUGMA!" May cried, seeing her fire Pokemon drowning in a watery tomb. The slug disappeared underwater, out of sight. Seconds passed before it reemerged, Lady had leapt into the lake and swam her foe to safety, the Slugma coughed up water, barely alive.

"I hate you Erik!" May stamped her feet, "my Marshtomp will make you send that Pikachu back to it's home" she finished, throwing out her final Pokeball.

"Dancer, fancy a battle?" Erik asked the Pikachu, but the electric Pokemon folded her arms and puffed out her face, refusing to fight. Erik launched Roller's Pokeball into the air instead, as Dancer went off into the distance to practise one of her dance routines.

Erik's vision snapped from the Pikachu and back to the fight at hand, as May's Marshtomp charged at Roller, the Gulpin rolled out of the way as the water and ground dual-typed Pokemon tripped over one of Lady's toxic spikes, getting itself poisoned in the process.

May surrendered, seeing her Pokemon succumbing to the venom.

"Here, I have a spare antidote in my bag" Erik remarked as he healed the Marshtomp.

"I forgot how strong you were Erik, I didn't have a chance" a tear rolling down her cheek as she realised the damage that her opponent had caused her beloved Pokemon.

"I'm sorry, May" came the reply from Erik, who went to grab her hand before May slapped it away.

"I don't want your apologies, look at how unhappy that Pikachu is, it just wants to go home," May ranted, "the way you battle without mercy, the way you steal without remorse, you are just the same as Team Magma" May finished, storming off.

Erik was at a loss, he didn't know what to do next, he leaned against the rail pondering his next move.


	12. City Of Glass

Chapter Eight – City of Glass

This was not what Erik had expected. The trainer from Kanto arrived at Mauville city with the dark of night creeping in, anticipating the city to be similar in style to Rustboro or Petalburg. Instead, Mauville comprised of a single glass building, so large it made Erik feel like an insect, small and insignificant in stature compared to the gargantuan construction.

Erik tried peering through the glass walls of the city, but was unable to see through the opaque walls, instead finding himself staring at his own reflection; his pale skin covered in dirt from the route he had just travelled. Adjusting his cap and wiping some of the dirt off of his brow, Erik made his way through the sliding doors and into the city.

"I want to challenge the gym leader," a green-haired teenager said to the balding man next to him, the man looked to be in his forties, wearing a cream-coloured jacket and blue jeans.

"You are nowhere near ready to challenge," the man responded, the two having the debate just metres from the doorway in which Erik had entered, "and as your uncle, I will not allow it until you are ready."

"You can't tell me what to do!" The boy squealed, storming off further into the city.

"Wally!" The uncle shouted as he chased after his nephew, "wait!"

Erik hadn't been noticed by either of the two, but decided to follow them anyway; the gym was his destination too, after all. Looking ahead he saw a bicycle rink and a restaurant, as well as another set of sliding doors further down the hallway, looking to lead to the outside.

As he ventured through the large glass doors, Erik noticed that the city was actually designed to be a huge shopping mall, which emerged into a large courtyard which occupied the centre, an open sky above. From here Erik could see a garden on the roof of the city where electrical pylons arose, reaching out and touching the sky.

The city had three layers: the ground floor was topped by apartments with hotel suites on the first floor, where the residents of the city lived. Erik knew that Mauville was directly on a crossroads of four different routes, Routes 110, 111, 117 and 118 all met up with Mauville, leading to the city having many travellers staying at it's hotels.

Erik proceeded through the courtyard, a Pokemon centre and mart on either side of another set of sliding glass doors, which opened for Erik as he walked up to them. In front of him now was both Mauville's electric-typed gym, and Wally.

"Erik?"

"Hey Wally, you challenging the gym too?" Erik kept his tone calm and kind, he knew that the boy he now spoke to was of a weak constitution.

"I want to, but I don't know if I am strong enough," Wally replied, he was still frail and shaky, but looked significantly better than when Erik first encountered him in Petalburg city.  
"How did you manage to defeat the first two gyms if you aren't strong enough?"

"Some stranger handed me a Stone badge, I don't know why, he just did. The second gym was easy because my Ralts's psychic abilities are super effective against the fighting types."  
"Wait," Erik was taken aback, "you were just handed a Stone badge? Magma was making people fight for them?"

"I know they were, but one of them just came up to me and smiled whilst handing me one, he even knew my name!" Wally seemed happy with the incident, a smile lighting up his frail face.

"Very odd," Erik pondered for a moment before continuing, "Well my Pokemon need training before the gym, I've lost enough in battle with leaders and would this time like to make sure my team is strong enough, would you like to train with me?"

"What would we do?" Wally replied instantly, he seemed nervous at the suggestion.

"The city is located right in the middle of four routes, I have just traversed one of them but we could easily train along the other three, starting tomorrow?"

"Okay! That sounds good Erik," the boy noticeably relaxed, likely thinking that Erik wanted to battle him before.

"Thank you, sir," Wally's uncle spoke to Erik, "make sure my nephew is ready to take on this gym, I can't have him losing the Ralts he holds so dear."

* * *

"I want to take you back Dancer, I really do." Erik sighed as he spoke to his Pikachu, who was slouched in the hotel room corner eating a bowl of berries.

Erik had taken his team to one of the hotels in the city, using money he had won from his battle with Brawly to pay for a three-night stay. The staff at the hotel had even provided Erik with a large bowl of water for Lady to sleep in, so that she could spend the night with the team.

Blaze and Roller were already asleep on the floor, Ice was attempting to sleep but Ninja was in one of his annoying moods, buzzing constantly around the Poochyena to wind him up. Erik crawled out of the bed and crouched down next to Dancer in the corner of the room.

"The next gym is an electric user gym. Lady is weak to it, Ninja strong against electrical attacks, the other three are neither weak nor strong," he began, but Dancer continued chewing on the berries looking uninterested, "if you do not wish to fight you do not have to, but being an electric type yourself would be a big advantage for us, their attacks will be absorbed by you and you can use your dance moves and speed to attack them back with fists."

Dancer looked repulsed by the thought she might have to battle, and Erik was close to giving up. On one hand he was delighted he had gotten a free Pikachu, the Pokemon was unregistered before so there was really no consequence to taking her for himself. But the other side of the coin was that Dancer was unhappy, May was unhappy, and all of it was causing Erik to become unhappy. He couldn't bring himself to go back to the contest hall and face up to what he had done, and he would never abandon a Pokemon into the wild, he was lost.

Erik's thoughts were interrupted by Ice barking at Ninja, the Poochyena had begun chasing the Nincada around the room but Ninja was far too quick and agile for Ice to catch, the hound-like Pokemon came over to Dancer and nudged her with his nose, asking for her help, to which the Pikachu was delighted to have a chance to showcase her agility and moves.

Dancer picked up the bowl of berries with her paws and handed them to Erik, then bolted after Ninja, the Nincada was slightly faster but Dancer more agile, a quick turn on the spot enabling her to tackle the bug Pokemon softly to the ground, Erik's laughter filled the room, waking both Roller and Blaze.

* * *

The lake stretched out in front of Erik, Lady bobbing up and down as she swam at pace, attempting to strengthen herself for the task ahead – to carry her trainer across the water. The river split Route 118 in half, located at the bottom of the rocky cliffs that linked Mauville city to the water's edge, on the other side of the lake was fresh grass and steep hills which according to the map on Erik's Pokenav, led to huge pathways of varied terrain in which he could train his Pokemon.

Blaze was jogging back and forth along the rocky route, alongside Wally and his Ralts, with Dancer sunbathing on the side of the lake, getting the occasional splash of water from swimming Pokemon which cooled her down underneath the baking mid-afternoon sun. Ninja, Roller and Ice were all inside their Pokeballs after battling with other trainers throughout the day.

First, a woman picking flowers had decided to challenge Erik to a fight, but her Oddish and Roselia were easily taken down by Ice's cold fangs, his frozen attacks strong against the grass-types, although the Poochyena's was finished for the day afterwards as he had taken a few hits in the fighting. A fisherman challenged Erik next as he made his way down to the lakeside, his Carvanha taken down in a joint effort by Ninja and Roller, but the duo had trouble against a third trainer's Magnemite. The electric Pokemon's steel shell proving tough to break down, but luckily Blaze was on hand to save the day, melting the steel with fire.

"Lady," Erik called out to the Tentacool who had been swimming from one edge of the river to the other all day, "let's give this a try."

Lady swam over, pushing herself forward through the water using her tentacles, she seemed unsure whether she would be able to carry her trainer on her back. Erik leaned down and smiled at her before patting his Pokemon on the head.

Erik lifted himself onto Lady, her head remaining barely above water. They took off slowly, the Tentacool clearly struggling with the weight of the trainer on her back, they had made it not even a quarter of the way before Lady began sinking, Erik tried clinging onto her but to no avail, he was going under too.

He let go, underneath the water's surface his vision turned hazy, through the blur he could see all manner of Pokemon, hordes of Magikarp swam together in unison, with groups of Tentacool sleeping near the riverbed, "so Lady and Gu must have gone to sleep in these groups with their friends" Erik thought to himself, before snapping out of bewonderment when he realised he was drowning.

Lady moved to wrap her tentacles around Erik and try to drag him to the surface, but she wasn't strong enough to do take him all the way, a wild Carvanha was heading for them, potentially seeing Erik as prey, it wasn't unknown for the carnivorous Pokemon to attack humans. Lady tried moving more hastily, but the Carvanha was closing in rapidly, the wild Pokemon opened its jaws to reveal two rows of razor-sharp teeth, moving within inches before Erik felt a hand on him dragging him out of the river in the nick of time.

"Are you okay?" his saviour asked him, lime-green eyes brimming with concern.

"Just fancied a little swim," Erik joked to Wally, also giving a nod to Lady, impressed she had managed to carry him almost all the way back to land.

* * *

The cacophony around Mauville food court was growing louder by the minute, Erik and Wally sat with their Pokemon around a table in the corner to relax after a long day of training, although relaxation was difficult when it seemed that every inhabitant of Mauville had chosen to have their dinner at the food court.

"Thanks again for saving me today Wally," Erik thanked his friend, Blaze chirping in agreement from the stool next to his trainer.

"It's okay, you've helped me so much I should be thanking you," Wally replied, and now it was the Ralts sat next to him that chirped in agreement. Ninja, Roller, Lady and Dancer had already returned to the hotel room to sleep, but Ice was still with the two trainers, sat at the heel of his new friend Wally, hoping the green-haired trainer would feed him some more meat scraps. Ice and Wally had bonded earlier when the Poochyena saw his new friend pulling Erik from the lake, the dark type had stayed by Wally's side since, as thanks for saving his trainer's life.

"Poochyenas' value strength," Erik began, "and my Ice is no different, because he saw you saving me he now sees you as stronger than me," Erik laughed as he said this, he knew that Ice was loyal to him even if he had a temporary obsession with Wally, "he also wants to protect you now as a thank you for saving his trainer, that's why he is staying by your side."  
Wally laughed, stroking the Poochyena before a silence engulfed the two of them for a few minutes.

"We will train to the west, along Route 117 tomorrow, that connects Mauville to your uncle's house in Vandenturf. Then the next day will be our final day, going north out of Mauville to Route 111." Erik said, breaking the silence. Wally froze at the statement, looking uncomfortable.

"Erm.." the trainer stuttered in reply, "I do not wish to go along Route 111."

"Why not?"

"There is a house there, the Winstrate brothers live there together, four of them."

"Who are the Winstrate brothers?"

"My childhood bullies, they made my life almost unbearable at trainer school." Wally was extremely downbeat as he spoke about the past, continuing on to fill Erik in on everything that had happened to him at the school. After he finished, Erik made him a promise.

"Then that is our goal, to prove we can take on the gym we will defeat these Winstrates, together."

* * *

Route 117 stretched out ahead of Erik and Wally, the dusty dirt road that connected Mauville city to Verdanturf town was flanked by tall grass and flower beds, where wild Pokemon roamed free undisturbed by humanity. Immediately to their right was a small house, with an accompanying garden crammed full of Pokemon.

"That's the day care centre," Wally informed Erik, seemingly reading his thoughts, "if you have a weak or young Pokemon that aren't ready for battle yet, you can pay the centre to take care of that Pokemon and give it some basic training until it is battle ready.

"Interesting," Erik thought aloud.

The two trainers began the day's training. Roller was ordered to attempt to smash some rocks at the end of the route, to the side of Verdanturf tunnel, Lady was running up and down the route on her tentacles to try and boost her strength and speed outside of water. Ninja and Blaze were practising aerial moves, flying or hovering and then swooping down, whereas Ice and Ralts were running up and down the length of the dirt road. Even Dancer was practising, bored of sitting doing nothing she moved up to Roller and began blasting rocks with electricity.

Wally went ahead to join Ice and Ralts in their running, wanting to train himself as well as his Pokemon, leaving Erik alone with his thoughts.

The Kantonese trainer reflected on how far he had come, who he had lost to get this far, and how strong his team was now looking. He was sure that him and his Pokemon could now battle any challenge that awaited them.

Suddenly, an indigo coloured blob crashed into him, a ferocious looking wild Zigzagoon emerging from the grass after it. Erik lifted the blob up, seeing that it was in fact an Oddish who was under attack, the grass Pokemon leaping from Erik's grasp and hiding behind him as the Zigzagoon went in for another attack.

Erik acted quickly, throwing some berries that he had saved for his own Pokemon's lunch to the floor, which the Zigzagoon gratefully munched on, and then offering the wild Oddish a Pokeball to escape into, "I've always wanted a grass type in my team," Erik smiled as he held out the capsule, the Oddish happily accepting the escape route.

"Welcome to the team, Leaf." he whispered to his newly caught Pokemon.

* * *

Evening was approaching, the sky turning crimson as the sun began setting for the day with a cold chill now taking to the air. Erik had deposited Leaf into the day care centre, he was almost certain that she was battle ready, but with his team already having six members he didn't want to upset anyone by replacing them, especially now Dancer was taking part in the training.

Leaf seemed to be incredibly shy, and was nervous about leaving Erik in the day care centre until her trainer spoke some comforting words to her. She looked half-starved, evidently bullied out of any food she had found herself in the wild, "hopefully the day care centre would take good care of her," Erik thought to himself.

Erik shut the curtains of the hotel room after staring into the evening sky, most of his team were already asleep after a long day's training and he had left Wally to visit his uncle in Verdanturf town after seeing that the locale had a contest centre, not wanting to risk them identifying him and Dancer.

The Pikachu was asleep alongside her new friend Roller, the two having spent the day together smashing up rocks. Ninja, Blaze and Lady asleep in their respective floor-beds. Ice was still awake however, rubbing his head up against his trainer. The Poochyena was still loyal to him after all.

* * *

Erik left the room with Ice to take his time to further explore the huge city, now that he had some downtime after training before he and Wally left to challenge the Winstrate brothers to next day.

Both the east side and the west side of the glass metropolis were packed full of shops, ranging from Pokemon masseurs and hairdressers, to battle shops to cafes. The northern section of the city had a television studio, the gym, a "battle institute" where trainers could participate in mock battles with another, and a bicycle shop, in which Erik was now stood.

"You heard me correctly," the salesman assured Erik, "a bicycle has already been bought for you, although the purchaser didn't leave a name."

"What did he look like?" Erik asked

"Looked quite menacing but was actually rather friendly, brown hair, narrow dark eyes?"

"What was he wearing?"

"Black suit and trousers, purple undershirt, had a big red letter on his arm that I couldn't see."

Erik had no idea who the man could have been, but the shop assistant was certain that the bike had been purchased specifically for him, so he took it without further questions, chaining it up at the bicycle rink.

"What do you think, Ice?" Erik asked after clicking the bicycle lock he had gotten free with the bike into place, "who bought me this bike?"

Ice barked an unintelligible response, the Poochyena was walking about a lot more confidently than before, confidence returning and guilt disappearing.

"We should go to that TV studio, there are some questions I'd like to ask," again, the Poochyena barked happily in response, as the two made their way to the home of Hoenn's television network.

* * *

"So you refuse to tell me anything about the Mount Chimney base of Team Magma?" Erik spoke sharply to the news editor, who was wearing a white shirt with a tie striped in what seemed like every colour imaginable.

"We cannot reveal our sources, I'm sorry."

"Okay, but have you heard any other news concerning Magma?" again, Erik asked sharply.

"There is a story we are about to run, and as you are so insistent I can give you a quick heads up before the report is broadcast in an hour? But only if you promise to leave me alone," the editor said with a smile, clearly wanting to give Erik anything so the trainer would go away.

"Okay, tell me."

"The authorities are setting up a police force in order to counter Magma and any other criminals in the region."

"Okay that's good, who are they recruiting into the force?" Erik asked, unsure on whether he could trust this new force after what Maxie had said about corrupted authorities.

"Reformed Magma members, who better to catch a criminal than a reformed criminal? They will be led by the deputy head of Hoenn security, let me just look up his name for you," the editor began typing into his computer before continuing, "The Magma members that have been defeated in battle and had their licenses taken away are being given another chance, being given a police license instead."

"That sounds idiotic. Surely these are bad men?" Erik inquired, Maxie's words seeming to have more and more truth in them.

"The people in charge believe that they will be grateful for a second chance, knowing their enemies. Only the goons are reformed criminals though, the squad leaders are all reputable trainers, don't worry. The new force, however, should be able to extinguish these goons forever, I guess that's why they are calling the force, 'Team Aqua'," the editor chuckled, "Archie is the name of the leader of the force, will you leave me alone now?"

"One more thing," Erik continued, the names Aqua and Archie meaning nothing to him, "who exactly are the authorities, I've never heard of any of them they just hide behind you media people."

"You'll have to find that out for yourself, boy," snapped the editor, clearly fed up with the young trainer who asked many questions.

Erik and Ice decided to return to the hotel room for the night, ready to challenge the Winstrate bullies along with the gym the next day, alongside their new friend Wally.


	13. Dynamo

Just to let anyone who is reading know, I'm sorry to inform you that there will not be a chapter posted next week as university deadlines are closing in (also the reason for the delayed chapters recently).

Chapter Nine – Dynamo

"You're so aptly named, Wally" the eldest brother spoke, before being batted down by a tall woman with long, dark hair.

"I haven't met you before, I'm Victoria Winstrate" she spoke to the green-haired boy, "I heard my brother's have been giving you a hard time?"

"They did at school, they always made my cry, bullying me about my asthma," tears filled Wally's eyes as he spoke.

*Cough*, the sister imitated, "sorry," *cough*, "I keep coughing, I might have to go inside and cry about it," she finished, followed by raucous laughter from the four brothers.

"What a bad insult, could she not think of anything better?" Erik sarcastically thought to himself, before speaking aloud, "are the Winstrate family just five people who hide behind their words and insults? Or do you care to back them up in battle."

"Oh hello Mister. Straight-to-the-point," the sister jibed, "you seem a lot stronger than the pathetic kid next to you," she grabbed Erik's arms, feeling for muscle as she did, "Oh, my mistake," she replied as she realised Erik had none, he was never one for working out.

"Again, more words. Are you a coward? Or will you fight." Erik demanded.

Wally put his hand on Ralts's Pokeball, "I will fight you Vincent, you were always the biggest bully," Wally pointed to the eldest brother as he spoke.

"Okay," Victoria interrupted, "then muscle-man over here can challenge the rest of us in a row," she said smiling at Erik.

"Fine," the Kantonese trainer replied.

* * *

Ice growled at the opposing Tailow, the youngest brother was up first and looked to be around Wally's age with typical Winstrate fair skin and dark hair.

"Get them for me and Erik, Ice!" Wally shouted to his new friend, before walking with Vincent to the back of the house for their own battle. Erik and the other four Winstrates were to fight at the front of the building, with a reservoir to the left of the house, and a well-decorated garden to the right.

Ice leapt at the Tailow, the frosty fangs super effective against his flying-typed opponent, winning the fight with ease as the bird fought in vain against the cold. Ice roared, his confidence and strut were back and he seemed to be happy with life again. The youngest brother sent out a Zigzagoon next, with Erik signaling to Roller to carry on where Ice had left off.

Erik turned around to give Ice a part on the head to see his Poochyena consumed by a blazing white light that stung to look at, shielding his eyes with his palm, Erik removed his hand to see that his Poochyena had evolved into a Mightyena, who howled in delight, Erik stroking his newly evolved Pokemon's soft black and grey fur.

Roller smashed the Zigzagoon into the lake, but the Winstrate's Pokemon jumped straight back out, unperturbed by the water and crashing right back into Roller. Roller tried again, slamming into the Zigzagoon, who was pushed into the lake once more, but again, the Winstrate Pokemon just used it's paws to swim, Roller looked perplexed, unsure how to proceed with the fight as his initial plan was failing. The Zigzagoon was near the shore, and Roller prepared for another slam, until the water's surface was hit by an electrical blast, frying the Pokemon inside.

Erik turned around to see Dancer's head up and arms folded, stomping away from the battlefield after helping her friend Roller.

The second brother was no challenge for Erik's Mightyena, Ice far stronger and quicker than he ever was before evolution, and had made short work of the third brother's Goldeen and Shroomish too with viciously sharp fangs brimming with icy cold. The third brother sent out his last hope, a Numel. Ice strolled wearily up for another round, but Erik called him back, wanting to give his Mightyena a rest after he was looking worn out, sending Lady out instead.

Lady dived straight into the reservoir next to the house, knowing that Numel was extremely weak to water she emerged every now and then to shoot poisonous ooze at the fire and ground typed Pokemon. After a few blasts of poison and being unable to hit it's opponent the Numel went into a rampage, blasting fire left, right and centre at the lake to try and hit Lady.

After a few seconds, Erik was worried, his Tentacool hadn't surfaced although the water should have absorbed the fire attacks. After a few more moments, Lady suddenly leapt out of the lake to administer a final poisonous blow.

* * *

"Well," Victoria said in a surprised tone, "you are actually quite strong, but dont worry muscles. I'm stronger."

The Winstrate sister threw a Pokeball, with a Meditite emerging from it's home, Erik sent out Ninja as he knew that his Nincada's bug type was strong against the Meditite's psychic abilities.

Ninja moved with his usual swiftness, zooming in on the Meditite and going to swipe at it, but the sister's Pokemon saw it coming, launching a fist into Ninja and sending him flying into the lake's watery surface. Lady jumped into after the Nincada, seconds passed before she emerged with Ninja's lifeless body wrapped in her embrace.

Ice walked over to his fallen friend, whimpering and rubbing his nose against him, whilst Erik stood frozen to the spot, even Dancer had run over to tried and shock the Nincada back to life, but it was too late, the electric bursts were having no effect and the bug Pokemon was no more, Ninja was lost to Erik as many of his friends had been before.

"Too easy, that pathetic bug didn't stand a chance," the Winstrate sister howled with laughter, Erik went to snap back at her but Blaze was already a step ahead of him, the Combusken enveloping himself in flames and charging at the Meditite. The psychic and fighting Pokemon was rammed into the garden, Blaze following suit still wrapped in fire.

The garden caught alight, fire spreading fast and rising high, licking the house alongside. Blaze and Meditite carried on their tussle regardless. Everytime Blaze threw a fist, the Meditite used it's psychic abilities to read the punch, block it, then throw one of it's own.  
Blaze was being beaten.

The battle raged on and Blaze hadn't landed a blow, moving into a defensive posture before being floored by a rapid series of attacks by the Meditite, the Winstrate's Pokemon moved in for the kill, holding Blaze by the throat with one hand whilst lifting the other fist high up ready for a final pound. The Meditite swung down with full force before screaming in pain, the two warring Pokemon were engulfed by the flames.

Blaze emerged out of the garden victorious, his body soaking up the fire.

* * *

"NO!" The Winstrate sister screamed as the house went up in flames, the raging fire destroying all in it's path before all of the group combined their efforts to put it out using water from the lake, Wally and Erik left the Winstrates as they stared at the blackened ruins of their burned-down home.

"Did you win?" Erik asked Wally with a smile.

"Y-yes but Erik," Wally started, his entire body shaking, "you burned down their home, I thought we were there to teach them a lesson not destroy their lives!"

"I didn't intend to, these things just happen I guess," Erik countered.

"You don't even care do you?" Wally was stunned at Erik's lack of remorse, storming off back into Mauville, their training together complete.

* * *

"May I go first?" Erik asked Wally as the two sat for breakfast in the foot court, getting a nod from his friend in response, it was the first time they had seen each other since the Winstrate house had burned down.

The restaurant was quiet this time of day, the morning's sun beaming through the glass windows of the gigantic city. Wally took another bite out of his toast, lavished with thick butter, before replying to Erik with his mouth still full of food.

"You can go first, I will challenge the gym this afternoon, I want to train my Ralts some more first," the trainer swallowed the food before continuing, "could you give me any final advice or tips?"

"I always try to use my Pokemon's type advantages in gyms, and keep the ones that are weak out of the action. For example, I will try to avoid using Lady for this gym as electrical attacks are strong against her water type. However, Leaf's grass type absorbs electric based attacks, so I will use her first in this gym."

"Oh," Wally looked to his Ralts, the only Pokemon is his party was neither strong nor weak to electric types, "I have to rely on my Ralts, don't you ever rely on Blaze?"

"Sometimes, I know Blaze will always come through for me, but it's important not to overuse him. If any of the trainers or leader use a Magnemite then I will switch Blaze straight in as his fire will melt it's steel."

The two went silent as they finished off their meals, Blaze and Ralts were sat with their trainers both eating some tofu for their pre-gym meal.

"Erik," Wally spoke, breaking the silence, "I'm not happy with you burning the Winstrates' house down."

"I told you, it was an accident," Erik replied, slightly irritated that it was being brought up again, "Blaze was angry that Ninja had just been killed but he never meant for the garden, nor the house to catch aflame."

"It's just how you're not sorry or anything, you didn't apologise to them or even offer to help them rebuild the house," Wally was becoming visibly upset as he continued ranting, "I looked up to you, Erik. Now I don't know how I feel about you."

"You're annoying me now, Wally." Erik snapped, he was angry with himself as much as he was with Wally, "First May, now you, I don't choose these things to happen to me but you both treat me as if I'm some villain."

"Please don't be angry with me," Wally cowered, Ralts sat up in anticipation, moving into a defensive stance, "who's May?" the trainer continued.

"Sorry for snapping, I'll see you later." Erik informed Wally as he got up, him and Blaze leaving the food court to go and challenge for his third badge. He was ashamed he had gotten so angry at his friend Wally, deciding he would go and apologise to him after he had finished with the gym.

* * *

As soon as Erik stepped foot into the large, open room, he noticed that the entire gym consisted of metal, swarming with electricity. Electrical barriers blocked his passage to a doorway at the rear of the room, the floor was flat and cold to the touch, with all four walls looking sturdy enough to cause damage if a Pokemon were to crash into one.

"Ahh, a challenger" an elderly gentleman spoke, spotting Erik coming through the doorway, he was flanked by two trainers to either side, "I am Wattson, the leader of this establishment and I welcome you," the leader was dressed in a bright yellow suit, with matching trousers both as bright as the sun. A white undershirt split the all-yellow look, as did his bushy white beard and thin hair.

"Erik," the Kantoese trainer replied, Leaf's Pokeball already in hand.

"A pleasure, please say hello to my protégés, Kirk, Ben, Vivian and Shawn," the gym leader continued, "once you have beaten them, I will turn off the electrical barriers blocking the rear door, feel free to proceed through and challenge me."

"I will be go first," Kirk instructed, as Wattson made his way through the doors, his bright yellow suit conducted the electricity in the barriers, allowing him to pass through without harm.

Kirk was wearing a leather jacket, with a guitar strapped around his waist. The trainer grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and lobbed it, a Magnemite emerging from within.

Erik put Leaf's Pokeball away and instead sent Blaze into battle, remembering the plan he had told Wally, for his Combusken to melt the Magnetime's steel shell with flame. Blaze read his trainer's mind, engulfing his body in fire and slamming into the Magnemite, the plan working as the steel Pokemon's shell was destroyed by the flames.

Kirk threw out a second Pokeball, this time an Electrike emerged from within, Erik retaliated with Leaf, his Oddish getting her first taste of battle.

"I know in the wild you were a frightened Pokemon, who elected to run and not fight back, but here you have to, it's fight or die." Erik spoke to his new grass-type Pokemon.

His word's seemed to frighten Leaf, who slouched, looking afraid before being slammed into by a quick attack from the opposing Electrike.

"This is what I mean, you cannot cower, hide or run here. I know my words are harsh but they are also true. Come on Leaf, I wouldn't send you into battle if I didn't think you were capable of winning here" Erik roared passionately.

The Electrike lowered it's head, preparing for another charge as Leaf bounced back to her feet before releasing chemicals into the air, directing them straight towards the opponent. Upon inhaling the scent, the Electrike crouched down, unable to keep it's eyes off of the Oddish.

"I've heard of this move," Erik thought to himself, "it's called 'attract', where one Pokemon releases pheromones into the air, which trick the opposing Pokemon to temporarily fall in love for a few minutes until the effect wears off."

The Electrike remained still, eyes fixed on the Oddish, with Leaf taking advantage of the moment to release more powder into the air. Erik saw that it was in fact sleep dust as the Electrike slowly moved out and calmly inhaled the fumes, falling asleep moments after.

"I take it these are moves that you used in the wild to escape from fights?" Erik said quietly to his Oddish, "very clever Leaf, but here in battle you now have to take advantage, try releasing poisonous spores into the air that will suffocate the opponent once they inhale."

Leaf followed his words, sending out a wave of poisonous fumes into the air, which the sleeping Electrike had no choice but to inhale, ending up choking on the fumes as Erik predicted, winning him the first fight.

* * *

The relentless training had worked, Erik was taking the gym by storm. Ben's electrike had fallen to Leaf the same way as she had defeated Kirk, although this time her foe managed to retaliate with an electrical blast, although Leaf stood her ground and absorbed the surge.

Vivian was up next, sending out a Meditite against Ice, the Mightyena grabbing the opponent in his fangs, carrying her to the electrical barriers and throwing the opponent into the electricity. His team looking incredibly capable, powerful and confident after all the training that they had done.

Shawn had gone down easily too, two Voltorbs falling against Leaf's spores, with Erik healing his team at the Pokemon centre before returning to find the electrical barriers down and the back room accessible, Wattson now standing in front of him.

"You made it through almost without a scratch, you must be some trainer," the old man spoke, tugging nervously on his beard as he did so, "you know, this gym powers the entire city?" he said as he turned around to point to the huge metal conductor behind him. The room had only three walls, each flooded with electricity, with the floor being made of the same metal as the previous room, although this metal floor looked almost unstable, as if it could break apart at any moment.

Erik looked to where Wattson was pointing, the conductor was an enormous metallic sphere, pylons teaming with electric waves on either side. Erik guessed that the pylons led all the way underground to the city's power grid, if the battle goes out of control here it could shut off the electricity for the entire shopping mall.

Wattson pulled a small object from his pocket, a small circular badge, "this is the Dynamo badge, awarded to any trainers who defeat me in battle," he smiled as he spoke, "are you ready?"

"Always," came the reply, as Erik picked up Blaze's Pokeball and threw it. He mistrusted the room so wanted to send his most reliable and trusted fighter into the mix, to assess the situation. Luckily, Wattson's first Pokemon was a Magnemite, Blaze knowing immediately what to do.

The Combusken engulfed his body in flame, before charging at the Magnemite. Again, the steel Pokemon's shell began melting as soon as the fire touched it, being slammed into the wall by Blaze's attack. The Combusken stepped back in shock, as the Magnemite began absorbing the electricity from the wall, leaving him to become supercharged before it powered up a strong electrical attack.

Erik wiped the sweat from his brow as he and Blaze had another stroke of good fortune, the Magnemite's shell melted before he was able to attack, a wave of built-up power radiating off the fallen foe, which paralysed Blaze as it crashed into him.

Erik recalled his Combusken, sending out Leaf next who was met by a Voltorb. The electric-typed Pokemon began charging, absorbing power from the nearby conductor as it prepared itself to attack, expanding in size as it did so. As the opponent grew larger and larger, it inhaled sleep dust released by Leaf. The Oddish then followed up the attack by sending out poison, the sleeping Pokemon inhaling the spores in it's sleep and winning Erik the fight against Wattson's second creature as it choked.

"Very impressive, but my Magneton isn't affected by poison, and your Combusken is paralysed, how are you going to fight it?" the gym leader said proudly.

"With Ice" came the blunt reply.

The Mightyena strutted out onto the field of battle, unfazed by the Magneton absorbing power from the nearby conductor, Ice charged in. Wattson's Pokemon was thrown into the air by an icy bite, picked up on it's way down and then slammed into the metal floor.

Erik almost fell as the room began shaking, the floor falling from underneath Ice's feet as the force of the Magneton's body slamming into it was too much for the creaky metal to handle.

Both Wattson and Erik ran up to the large hole in the floor, as the two Pokemon tumbled into an enclosed room below, the small chamber Ice and Magneton were now in swarming with electricity, sparks licking up and zapping Ice and Magneton, the steel-typed Pokemon unharmed by it, in fact, it looked to Erik as if Wattson's creature was drawing power from it.

"A conductor your Pokemon draws power from, a hidden electrical chamber which I bet is planned, this battle is rigged entirely in your favour, Wattson," Erik growled.

"It's my gym, isn't it?," the elderly man smiled as he replied, "I am allowed to set it up as I please."

As the two bickered, Ice continued to be zapped by sparks of Electricity, knowing that he was unable to charge at the Magneton through loose waves of electrical energy snaking around the room, too far away from Erik to be called back into his Pokeball and be switched out, as the Magneton edged closer, absorbing the snaky bolts of electricity as they zapped up at Wattson's Pokemon.

The Mightyena tried a new trick, roaring so loud the entire chamber the two were in shook vigorously, causing the bolts to fly everywhere, zapping both Ice constantly and causing the Magneton to overcharge.

"Now!" roared Wattson, with his Pokemon responding in kind, harnessing all the electrical energy in the chamber in preparation for an astronomical attack on Ice, who was slouched on the floor wincing in pain as the sparks continued draining his health. The Magneton finishing absorbing the power. Ice howled.

The Magneton shook with the room, all the electrical energy stored inside it becoming unstable and overloading the Pokemon, shaking in pain the Magneton tried floating upwards, but was unable to stop the energy inside him from exploding, shattering the Pokemon's steel shell. Ice had survived.

"Turn the electrics off in that chamber, the fight is over!" Erik screamed at Wattson, who duly obliged, pressing a button attached to his wristwatch.

"You fought extremely well, even with the odds stacked hugely against you and your team," the old man's smile remaining firmly on his face, "you didn't even lose a single Pokemon to my tricks and attacks, this Dynamo badge if yours, you have earned it."

Erik snatched the badge out of his hands before rushing Ice to a Pokemon centre to get him checked for lasting damage.

* * *

Ice barked with joy, the nurse had informed Erik that his Mightyena was fully healed.  
He was now stood at the sliding doors to Route 111, deciding his journey lay to the north, to Lavaridge town and the fourth badge, as well as his other plan.

"Right team," he spoke to his six Pokemon, who were all out of their Pokeballs and stood now in front of their trainer obediently, "I assume Wally has gone home to Verdanturf, and doesn't really want to see us at the moment, so we will go ahead to our next task."

Blaze chirped happily at his trainer, even Dancer looked please that none of her new teammates had taken any permanent damage or even been killed during the gym fight.

"Well done at the gym, Leaf, Blaze and Ice. The three of you were amazing," he continued, smiling at the three Pokemon in question, "We go now to , to the Team Magma base, back in my home region of Kanto they banned trainers and the use of Pokemon due to a gang like them, we cannot let it happen here, even if that means taking down their base by ourselves. I do not trust this Team Aqua or the corrupt authorities, our target is to take down Maxie and destroy their base, by whatever means necessary. I believe in each and every one of you, we can do this."

Five of his Pokemon roared in agreement, Dancer looking unsure before Erik flashed her a smile.

"We will need you up there too, Dancer," he said as he held out a hand to her, the Pikachu grabbing it with both her paws and smiling back at Erik, "thank you, my friend," he gave Dancer a pat on the head with his free hand as he spoke. The seven of them exited through the doors of Mauville together, the huge volcano they were headed to looming in the distance.


	14. Allies and Adversaries

Chapter Ten - Allies and Adversaries

Erik peered over the boulder he was crouched behind, the baking sun beating down on him with the day feeling as hot as his Combusken's flames.

"Where are we even supposed to be right now? Fallabor or the mountain?" asked the first grunt in the red cloak, addressing his teammate.

"Mt. Chimney," replied the second, with a voice a lot more hoarse than his softly spoken friend. "We are part of strike team two, idiot."

"Sorry, I'm just not sure about this, I hate heights and that cable car creaks every time we go up on it!"

"Just shut up and follow, Maxie wouldn't send us up there if there wasn't a good reason for it."

The two Magma grunts began walking off, they had stopped for a bicker halfway through Route 111 when Erik had spotted them. He sneaked over to a large boulder in an attempt to overhear their conversation, discovering that something was planned for Fallabor town.

Route 111 was comprised of a long, sandy track through mountainous hillsides, with huge rocks and boulders littering the pathway, which lead to a fork in the road. A small desert inhabited the centre of the route, to the right of the fork, whereas Mt. Chimney occupied the road to the left. A flash of movement from the other side of the road caught Erik's eye, someone was watching him from behind a boulder.

"Come out!" Erik demanded, before leaping over his own boulder and storming over to where he had seen the movement.

"Okay, okay!" a male voice moaned, shortly joined by another.

"We're coming out," followed a female's voice, two figures emerging from behind the boulder. The male was holding a huge black recording device, lifting it over his shoulder and peering through the camera straight at Erik. He wore all navy blue, from his backwards fitted cap to his t-shirt and jeans combination. The female next to him bore an aqua-blue dress with white heels, her short cropped hair as brown as the boulder she was hiding behind.

"I'm Ty," the cameraman introduced himself, "and this is Gabby, we are amateur reporters."

"Why are you following me?!" Erik growled as viciously as a cornered animal.

"We've been told by our editor to conduct an investigative report on you," Gabby answered, her stern voice causing Erik to immediately stand up straight. "We have been told you are looking to join Magma, so we are uncovering the plot by following you. We believe that if we decipher the reason as to why so many young trainers are tempted to join Team Magma, we can help put a stop to it."

"That's ridiculous," Erik roared, "I have no intention of joining them, in fact, I'm on my way to fight them. Your editor having an issue with me is the problem."

"Well it's too late," Ty took over, his voice a lot calmer and friendlier than his counterparts. "We have already got enough footage for the first showing," he finished with delight.

"Blaze," Erik called, his Pokemon inhaled breath ready to destroy the camera with flame.

"Wait!" Ty cried. "Don't!"

Erik held up a hand and Blaze relaxed. "Okay," he started calmly, "I challenge you both to battle, if I win, you explain to me what's really going on as well as deleting the footage."

"Fine," Gabby responded, "but if we win, we air our report along with a full video confession from you, whether it's the truth or not," a smug look taking to her face.

"Let's battle," Ty and Erik said in unison.

* * *

Ty and Gabby sent out a Magnemite and Whismur into battle respectively, insisting on a double battle with Erik, Lady and Roller taking to the stage for their trainer.

Lady was bouncing around the battlefield on her tentacles, leaping from side to side with Roller making circle shapes around her. Erik knew they were trying to intimidate their opponents by showing how well they worked as a team, the Magnemite and Whismur static alongside one another clearly not as well trained.

The Magnemite made the first move of their fight, starting to charge an electrical blast at Lady. Erik's Tentacool reacted quickly, letting out a supersonic sound wave before her opponent was finished which caused the electricity to overcharge, sending Ty's Pokemon crashing into one of the rocks on the path. Ice barked in approval at Lady copying his tactic from the gym battle with Wattson's Magneton.

Roller instantly chased after the crashed Magnemite, grabbing the rock it had smashed into and slamming it down on the Pokemon. Gabby's Whismur moved to save his ally, before Lady copied Leaf's trick next, sending pheromones into the air and causing her foe to temporarily fall in love with the Tentacool.

Magnemite took advantage of Roller momentarily stopping his attacks, the stone Erik's Pokemon was using to beat his opponent which had split in half, leaving the poison-type having to look around for another weapon, the Gulpin knowing that his poisonous attacks would have no effect. The Magnemite began charging for an electrical attack whilst Roller was distracted.

Lady immediately saw the event unfolding, sending out another soundwave, but this time the supersonic attack didn't have the intended effect; the Magnemite overcharged, but instead of damaging itself, the Pokemon emitted a wave of electrical power, the supercharged attack hitting Lady and paralysed her. Roller only just managed to spin out of the way.  
Whismur growled in anger, turning on the Magnemite and pummelling the steel Pokemon relentlessly.

"What are you doing?!" screamed Gabby.

"Avenging his loved one," Erik replied with a smirk, as the Magnemite was knocked unconscious.

Gabby's Whismur span around to check on Lady, but was hit by a pulse of water from his new love, along with a blast of poison from Roller. Both attacks slammed her back into the boulder his trainer was originally hiding behind, knocking her unconscious next to her comrade. Roller moved over the the Magnemite to finish it off, with Lady doing the same to the Whismur.

"Stop!" commanded Erik, before he turned to the two news reporters. "You guys going to hold up your end of the deal?!"

"Ty, you know what to do.." Gabby turned to her friend despondently, the cameraman fiddling around with some of the buttons on his device.

"There we go, all clips of you have been deleted," he said to Erik.

"Good, now tell me why you are really following me."

"Our editor wanted to set you up as the bad guy," Ty answered, looking shaken. He glanced at his Magnemite each time he spoke. "We wanted to get trainers who wanted to do good to home in on you as payback for messing our editor about, we were only doing what we were told, I promise!"

"Why is he trying to take me out?"

"You angered him," Gabby took over, her self-confidence now as fragile as her Whismur. "You've made an enemy out of him."

"All I did was ask a few questions," Erik complained.

"The wrong questions," Gabby responded instantly, causing Erik to think the editor must have been part of Magma, or maybe one of the corrupt officials? Or both? Or maybe neither, he couldn't be sure, but he was definitely bad news.

"Leave," Erik instructed the two reporters, as he recalled his Pokemon into their Pokeballs, his head aching from the thoughts circling his brain. It seemed to him that everyone was against him, all part of some huge conspiracy.

"You've got to stop making so many enemies," he thought to himself, before being hit by a revelation. "My anger just pushes people away, this conspiracy doesn't exist, it's me being paranoid, this is all due to my actions. Even May and Wally have fallen away."

* * *

A raging sandstorm buffeted Erik's advances, the sand being whipped into his eyes by howling wins, temporarily blinding him as he attempted to cross the desert. He knew on the other side there was a mountain path or cave in which he could easily ascend Mt Chimney, whereas if he tried going up the volcano from the south side he would be forced to climb up a treacherous mountain pass, filled with jagged rocks and unstable surfaces.

His journey through Route 111 after battling with Gabby and Ty was eventful, filled with trainers wishing to battle him to toughen their Pokemon for either traversing the mountain or the desert.

A lady named Irene sent out both a Plusle and Minun, requesting a double battle with Erik who had sent out Ice and was reaching for Leaf's Pokeball before the Mightyena shunned the support and took the two electric-typed Pokemon down on his own.

Emory was next, the gentleman's Tailow ripped from the air by Ice's cold fangs, the icy move strong against the flying-type. Finally, Travis's Sandshrew was destroyed by Leaf, who used the same tactics as she did in the gym, attracting the foe before sending it to sleep then poisoning it.

The sand continued pounding against Erik, he had lost his vision but continued trudging on regardless, slowly moving one foot in front of the other to attempt to carrying on pushing his way through the storm. One such step was interrupted by a rock, he tripped and fell onto the floor. Erik picked himself up, before walking straight into a cliff face.

He walked for what seemed like a further fifteen minutes, one arm across his face to shield his eyes, the other stretched in front of him to feel for any obstacles in his path. The storm was getting weaker and weaker with every step, he knew he had nearly reached the exit of the desert.

A couple of minutes later and the storm had stopped completely. Erik rubbed his eyes to get any sand out before opening them, the desert was behind him. He peered from side to side to realise that he was where he had started, he must have circled back accidentally trying to avoid any cliffs or boulders in his path. The desert route was inaccessible, he knew that he and his team must now try crossing through the hazardous mountain pass.

* * *

Roller smashed into another rock, clearing it out of Erik's path as they made their way up the mountain. Like when they were in the desert, the rest of his team were in their Pokeballs, Erik deciding that they were safer in there, as well as the fact that if too much weight was placed on the unstable ground it could fall from underneath them.

Roller crashed into another rock, the object exploding into a million pieces upon contact, allowing Erik to walk through unhindered. After a few more steps another rock lay in their path, this one slightly more orange in colour and smaller than usual. The Gulpin carefully rolled up to it before attempting to smash into it, the rock moving out the way just in time.

The rock blasted fire at its aggressor, Erik's Pokemon leaping out of the way. Erik noticed that the rock was, infact, a Numel; the fire Pokemon angry at being disturbed and ramming Roller until the Pokemon nearly fell off the cliff edge. The Numel had Roller exactly where it wanted him, and began charging once more before slowing down suddenly, Leaf had released sleep gas into the air. Erik threw a great ball at the now sleeping Numel, capturing the wild Pokemon. The ball disappeared into storage the instant the new member of his team was secured in its new home, before Erik decided to call his new capture, "Rocky".

Night was closing in, and the mountain would be impossible to scale in darkness. Roller found a small cave for him and his trainer to spend the night in, Erik releasing his team from their homes allowing them all to spend the night together.

"Come on Dancer, huddle around the warmth," Erik spoke to his Pikachu, who was lying away from the rest of the group.

Leaf had released small puffs of powder into the air for Blaze to set aflame, the minute flames giving the team a slight warmth through the chilly night.

Erik realised his pleas to Dancer were in vain. She may be willing to be part of their adventure, but not yet ready to be part of the team. Lady was back inside her Pokeball, unhappy at sleeping in a dark, dank cave, but Ice and Blaze lay side by side, with Leaf and Roller cuddled up to Erik as they slept.

"Tomorrow, we ascend and take down Magma," Erik promised his team.

* * *

The morning sun pierced through the darkness of the night, the sky removing its black cloak and becoming pale blue with a reddish tint, the mountain pass now dimly lit.

Erik recalled his team into their Pokeballs, all except Roller who began smashing rocks once more, the ascent a lot easier this time with him nearing a flat area in which the cable car station made its home.

After another twenty minutes of climbing, Blaze hauled Erik up a cliff, the trainer grabbing onto the top and using his arms to lift himself up onto the flat surface, before recalling his Combusken into the Pokeball. He turned to see the cable car station to his right, with a cave entrance to his left.

"That must be fiery path to my left, a clear walkway downwards to the northern edge of the desert," he thought to himself.

The cable car station was an unremarkable building consisting of two floors, the second of which was lined with large open windows, the lower floor had no windows however, but did contain a single metal door; which was slammed shut and unresponsive to Erik attempting to push it aside. He realised that the door must have been bolted shut from the other side, and with no first floor windows he made his way to have a look to either side of the station for another entrance.

The western side was completely made up of a huge rock face, with the cable car lines ascending up it all the way to the peak, whereas the eastern side was the opposite, a sharp edge with a long drop to the surface if someone managed to fall off. He released his team from their Pokeballs.

"We need to blast through this door," he informed them, "I'll try knocking to see if anyone friendly is inside first, if not, everyone attack it with ranged attacks at the same time."

Erik proceeded with the plan, thumping the door three times. His fist banging against the steel made a powerful noise, sure to alert anyone residing within the station.

"Who is-" a voice floated down from one of the open windows, Erik looking up to see a familiar figure staring him in the face - it was Grant.

"Everyone! He's at the door, the guy I told you about!" Grant shouted, to which four more faces appear at the windows looking down on the trainer that had embarrassed their comrade twice before.

In unison, the five Team Magma members sent out Numels, instructing their creatures to blast at Erik and his team with fire. A total of eight of the rock-like Pokemon began shooting bursts of flame towards the group.

"Retreat to the cave!" Erik commanded his group, the seven of them running off towards the cave together, being split up into smaller teams as they dodged the flame blasts, Leaf was separated from the rest of them, along with her trainer.

A blast landed directly in front of Erik, causing him to stop in his tracks, and see another flame burst heading straight for him, he closed his eyes and heard a small scream.

Leaf had dived in front and saved her trainer, rocketing towards the edge of the cliff. Erik reacted rapidly and flew forwards, catching the Oddish with outstretched arms, holding her over the drop below, she was weak but alive.

The two looked back to see another trail of roaring fire heading towards them, seemingly in slow motion. Leaf glanced at Erik for a short moment that seemed to last a lifetime; the trainer catching her eyes full of sorrow, the Pokemon thankful for Erik giving her a chance. Leaf leapt out of Erik's hands towards the flame, moving to sacrifice herself so that her trainer could get away.

Erik's vision blurred, a bright white light half-blinding him, absorbing waves of fire blasts from the eight Numels in the building. Seconds slowly passed as Erik's vision returned in full, a Gloom now standing in front of him; Oddish had evolved. More fire rained down upon them, but they were cut out by a jet of water, the Marshtomp that shot it strolling up and launching water at each window, causing the Numels to be thrown backwards.

"Over here!" May screamed over from the cave entrance.

Erik complied, grabbing Leaf and sprinting into the cover of the cave.

* * *

Heat filled the cave like an oven, a passage through a volcano leading downwards to the surface. Erik and May stood side by side at the summit of the pathway.

"What are you doing here?" Erik enquired, still shocked at May's sudden appearance.

"Not even a thank you?" May whined. "I was in the desert doing some research on what types of Pokemon live there. I left yesterday evening and heard a news report about you going to join Team Magma and thought I'd go see for myself if it's true the next morning. I can see that it's not, however."

"Gabby and Ty must have aired the show about me!" Erik exclaimed aloud.

"Yep," May responded, "you're all over the news."

"What are they saying?" Erik's heart rate increased as rapidly as his mood dropped.

"That you've been a thorn in the side of the authorities for a while with your vile deeds to get back at your father, and you're looking to join Team Magma to get at him even more, they are saying they are looking into reasons for so many trainers joining the gang and you are a specific case study," May replied matter-of-factly.

"It's because I demanded information from their editor," Erik sighed, "now they're out for blood."

"Stupid boy," May snapped, "do you have to start fights everywhere you go?!" She turned to view Dancer, the Pikachu still accompanied Erik. "So you still haven't returned her, you disgust me sometimes."

"Dancer is happy now," Erik insisted, Dancer half-smiling in response. It wasn't the full truth, but his Pikachu was certainly a lot happier than she once was. "How did you manage to study in the desert anyway? I tried passing through yesterday and there was a huge sandstorm," he added.

"I was wearing my goggles to protect my eyes from the storm. Well there's a second reason I came up to see you," May continued, tone suddenly changing into a more sweet voice. "I haven't forgiven you, but I'd like your help. Magma are planning something in Fallabor, I'm off to see Professor Cozmo there for more information, their base in the mountain can wait for now, Erik."

"Of course I'll come with you," Erik responded instantly without thinking, delighted at the proposal.

May handed Erik six potions, one for each member of his team to heal their wounds.

"Here," she said as she did so, "you'll want to go to Lavaridge after all this, it's on top of the mountain and houses the fourth gym. I asked you because I know deep down you're a good guy, and also the strongest trainer I've ever met." A nervous smile spread across her face. Erik was unsure what the smile indicated, if anything, but thanked her for the items and the information.

"Wait, how do you know about their plot in Fallabor?" he blurted.

"None of your business," she snapped again, before turning on her heel and beginning her descent down the pathway. "And I don't want you to come with me, I'll meet you there. Don't try and follow me, my bike is outside so you won't be able to catch up."

He watched her as she made her way down, annoyed at himself as he always was after an encounter with May. There was always something he could've said, or not have said.

* * *

Erik sat with his Pokemon at the end of the slope, just before where the cave exited onto the northern section of Route 111. He applied a potion to each of their wounds, also leaving a pile of berries he had picked off bushes on the southern section of the route he was about to enter onto.

Dancer delicately grabbed a berry, nibbling on the skin before handing the remainder to Roller who gulped it down without a seconds hesitation. The Pikachu went to grab another before having it stolen out of her grip, the smell the thief emitted causing her to back off massively, almost running halfway back up the slope.

The wild Koffing ate another berry, and another, none of Erik's team wanting to go near it due to the stench that came out of the creature. Erik grabbed a great ball out of his bag and threw it at the Koffing, the device ricocheting off the poison-type and opened up to suck the wild Pokemon inside.

"Welcome to the team, Glutton," Erik laughed, before the great ball disappeared into storage alongside Rocky, the rest of his team gathering back around the berries after the stench vanished along with the Koffing.

* * *

Route 111 stretched out before them, and after that lay Route 113, a path covered in long grass and volcanic ash which acted to link the former route to Fallabor Town.

"Right, May has healed us all up," Erik looked at each of his team as he spoke. "There is still a long way to go to Fallabor, and there are most definitely going to be people training their Pokemon, and even people coming after us specifically. Are you ready for the challenge?"

All six of his Pokemon roared in unison, Erik span on his heel and began the trek to Fallabor Town, to Team Magma, to May.


	15. The Media's Enemy

Chapter Eleven - The Media's Enemy

A line of trees stretched into the sky from both sides of the sandy road that twisted and turned chaotically, all the way until Route 111 became Route 113.

A swift glance behind him, and Erik saw the cave entrance in the distance to the left, with the desert looming behind his right shoulder. He turned his head back around to be met by a fist which flashed before him. His vision turning to temporary darkness as he crashed to the surprisingly solid ground.

Erik turned his head to see Roller leap in in an attempt to save him, before a Mightyena slammed into his Gulpin - who in turn went flying backwards into Leaf which left the two of them in a slump on the ground. Erik fumbled around for Lady's Pokeball before the attacker kicked it out of his hands.

"Nothin' personal kid," came a gruff voice from the large man standing over Erik. He was wearing a black leather jacket with dark jeans, using a chain as a belt. "Defeating you will get me all over the news, imagine the fame and money that would come with that," the man laughed as he spoke, his chuckles sounding almost like he was choking on something.

"Your Mightyena is too well trained for this part of Hoenn," Erik replied, "besides the news is lying to people about me."

"I know he's powerful, I have five badges after just defeating your father in battle. I was about to cross the river to get to Fortree town and my sixth badge when I heard the news. I don't care if they're lying, I'll still get famous either way."

Erik climbed to his feet to see Ice and Blaze struggling with their combined efforts against the thug's Mightyena. Blaze swiped a kick at his foe, who feinted around it then slammed into the Combusken, sending it rocketing to the floor. Ice moved in to retaliate, barring his fangs which were glistening with ice as always, the thug's Pokemon ducking under the attempted bite and slamming its skull into Ice's stomach.

"Finish the Combusken off!" ordered the thug, as Erik stood motionless, too frightened to move.

The Mightyena obliged his trainer's orders, and opened his jaws to wrap his teeth around Blaze's throat, before being fried by a blast of electricity from Dancer. Ice got back up to his feet and wrapped his own fangs around the Mightyena, Blaze blasting it with fire to finally finish off their opponent.

As Erik's team rounded on the thug; the large man ran.

* * *

Erik couldn't tell if Wilson and Brooke were brother and sister, or just very close friends. The two looked almost identical with lime-green hair and piercing amber eyes, and both were well built, wearing rose-coloured outfits. Whatever their relation, the two trainers' hatred of Erik was clear.

"We were training up to challenge your dad for his badge," Brooke's voice was extremely high pitched, the sound of it causing Erik to wince as she spoke. "But we see his evil son needs taking care of first."

The two had ambushed Erik as he walked further down Route 111, and after a brief introduction, had challenged him to a fight, Wilson was to go first.

"My sister won't even be needed," Wilson's voice was also high, almost boyish despite looking to be in his late-twenties. "I will take you down."

"Well that answers that question; brother and sister," Erik chuckled to Blaze, his Combusken chirping in response.

"Shut up!" Brooke squealed, "you Magma people need to be shown there are still people who will fight you. Get him big bro."

"You got it," Wilson replied as he launched a Pokeball into the air, the device opened up with an Electrike hopping out.

Erik had given up trying to convince people he wasn't part of Team Magma, so didn't even bother, nodding calmly to Leaf; the Gloom taking to the battlefield.

Leaf seemed to be a lot more stubborn and miserable since her evolution, almost as if the previously quiet and innocent Oddish was now going through a teenage phase. Erik was snapped out of his thought process by a quick attack by Wilson's Pokemon, the Electrike moving as quickly as it had entered the battlefield and swiping at the Gloom.

Gloom inhaled and began the process to release pheromones into the air, but was interrupt by a bolt of electricity from the Electrike who moved quicker than any Pokemon Erik had ever seen. Wilson's creature moved in for another attack but Leaf reacted in time, sending spores into the air to attract the foe, who fell in love with her.

"Yes!" Erik shouted, he knew from experience whenever Leaf had attracted an opponent, she quickly won the fight.

"Come on Electrike, we've been through worse than this!" Wilson encouraged, the electric Pokemon repeatedly shaking his head with eyes slammed shut, like it was trying to shake out a vile thought.

Wilson's Pokemon blasted a jolt of electrical power at Leaf, fighting through the love and causing damage to the Gloom.

"Oh no," Erik thought to himself, "this Electrike is too well trained. It can fight through love. It moves at great speeds…" Leaf inhaled, even though her spores weren't working, she had no other moves, or so Erik thought.

The Gloom blasted a stream of poisonous liquid out of her mouth, managing what Oddish couldn't and attacking through other means. The Electrike was thrown back but regained itself, a paralysing wave of lightning erupting from its skin, striking and paralysing Leaf; leaving her weak and unable to move.

Erik moved swiftly, withdrawing Leaf into her Pokeball and giving Ice a nod to charge into battle. The Electrike was majorly weakened but still moved quickly, darting around Ice who stood motionless, and waited. As soon as Wilson's Pokemon made its move, Ice grabbed and crushed it with his fangs.

"No!" Wilson roared, grabbing his next Pokeball in a rage and throwing it, a Makuhita emerging from within. Erik nodded to Roller.

The Gulpin moved quickest, launching a ball of toxic sludge which poisoned the Makuhita upon contact. The fighting Pokemon countering by whipping up a whirlwind, the force of which launched Roller into the air, high up into the sky.

Erik saved his Pokemon by recalling it into his Pokeball, and by the time he turned his head to nod at Blaze, his Combusken had already slammed into the Makuhita in a fiery charge. Blaze was relentless, despite receiving multiple punches to the face, he carried on kicking back, the combined fire and poison proving too much for Wilson's second creature.

"KILL HIM!" screamed Wilson, infuriated. Erik didn't recognise the next Pokemon that was sent into battle. A blue and yellow creature stood tall on it's hind legs, with short arms and sharp fangs with accompanying dragon mane. A quick check of his Pokedex informing him his opponent was Bagon, a dragon type.

Ice strutted out onto the field of battle, Erik knowing that dragon-types were weak to ice attacks. His Mightyena shivered, then stopped, suddenly wincing, Erik realising that Ice was paralysed, contact with the Electrikes skin must have caused it.

The Bagon took advantage, charging in head first, but Ice composed himself then leapt onto the dragon, icy fangs causing great damage. Bagon retaliated with fire breath, but Ice's teeth were unmelting, the cold glistening still as he ended the match-up.

Erik noticed that Wilson still had two Pokeballs left, and Brooke had all three of hers untouched. Whereas Leaf was too weak to fight with Roller, Ice and Blaze having had taken significant damage already.

"Let's speed this up," Wilson declared, throwing out both of his remaining Pokeballs out at once, a Spoink emerging alongside a Mawille. Blaze and Roller marched out to face them.

The Spoink bounced from side to side, never staying still for a moment, and launched a vicious ray of light towards Roller. The Gulpin span around rapidly, dizzy and confused by the bright light which continuously changed colour, but fought through the confusion to launch a ball of poisonous sludge back, successfully poisoning the psychic-type.

Blaze was up against the steel-typed Mawille, who didn't put up much of a challenge at all due to his flames melting the steel skin, the Combusken turning to see Roller letting out rapid and continual poisonous attacks against the Spoink, one such ball of sludge Blaze set alight, the fire ball of poison incinerating Wilson's final Pokemon.

* * *

Wilson was still shocked and in tears as Brooke faced up to Erik. He had wanted to heal his team before he faced her, but his wrist device had responded to her challenge leaving him unable to.

"I will take you down, you evil boy!" promised Brooke.

"You will be in tears after this like your brother," Erik said dryly, he was beyond caring now, the two had brought this upon themselves.

An evolved version of Zigzagoon was her first fighter, the slender Linoone staring Roller in the eye as the two prepared to fight. The Linoone moved fastest, headbutting Roller into a nearby tree, the Gulpin retaliating with sludge, which had little effect. Roller was waning.

Linoone moved quickly again, furiously swiping at Roller again and again, Erik knew it was lost, as soon as Brooke's Pokemon stopped to breathe, he withdrew Roller into his Pokeball, the Gulpin tremendously weak. Blaze leapt in, kicking the Linoone into the tree, again the attack by one of Erik's team had little effect.

A loud creak could be heard from the tree, with the Linoone standing at full height on her hind legs and screeching at Blaze, challenging him to come forward and attack. Blaze responded, despite Erik's cries, charging in as the Linoone prepared to lunge.

A further loud creak, and half the tree seemed to fall on top of Brooke's creature, a dozen or so branches crashing down, which Blaze set alight to make absolutely sure the Linoone had fallen.

Brooke sent out a Wingull. With only Blaze and Lady in fighting condition, and Blaze having a double weakness to Wingull's dual water and flying types, Erik was feeling lost; and Brooke still had another Pokemon after that.

Lady and Wingulls water blasts intercepted another, cancelling their attacks out. With the Wingull deftly dodging the Tentacool's following poisonous attacks, the flying creature grabbed Lady in it's talons and flew her into a tree, then launched Lady back to the ground to a soft thud. Lady was barely moving, but alive.

"I'm sorry Blaze," Erik whispered to his oldest friend, tears filling his eyes, "it's down to you now."

A yellow paw halted Blaze's advances, as Dancer walked onto the battlefield herself. A watery blast hitting her square in the face and knocking her backwards only seeming to anger the Pikachu, who skipped out of the way of a second water blast before blasting electricity at it. The electrical power surging up the water, all the way to the Wingull's beak, frying it and leaving Brooke down to her final Pokemon; Roselia.

Blaze had no struggle against Roselia, his fire attacks burning through the grass-type with ease. Erik had beaten both the siblings now, even though they had one badge more than he did. Despite his victories, every single member of his team was extremely weak, they would not survive another battle if they weren't healed and the next Pokemon centre wasn't until Fallabor town, a long way away still.

Erik expected a response from the twins, but both were too busy consoling each other. He walked on without looking back.

* * *

"Erik!" a sweet sounding voice crawled its way down from one of the identical trees which lined the route to the trainer on the pathway below.

Erik froze. His team were weak, unlikely to survive another fight and yet another trainer was calling his name, he had almost reached the end of Route 111, he was so close.

"Look," he responded, looking up to see a woman with caramel skin and fluffy dark hair perched on a wooden platform, concealed in the raking leaves and branches of the tree. "The reporters are lying, I'm not joining Magma. My team are too weak to survive another battle, please," he pleaded, for the first time in his life he was begging. All his Pokemon were back inside their Pokeballs, he had wanted to give them as much rest of possible.

"Dont worry, my dad once angered the media too, I know their tricks." She flashed him a smile as she spoke, clear white teeth seemingly sparkling in the sunlight. "Come up here, I'll throw a ladder down, it's safe, I promise."

Erik looked around, he saw a couple of trainers emerging from the desert, and was sure he could made out human-shaped figures at the other end of the route as well. Besides, he knew how treacherous Route 113 supposedly was, covered in ash storms from the active volcano which loomed over it. He climbed the ladder.

Each rung he climbed caused the ladder to wobble alarmingly, a creaking noise could be heard from the wooden platform above and Erik always did have a slight fear of heights. He kept his gaze locked above him, terrified that if he looked down he would fall, until he made it to the top.

Cecilia had gone. Pushing aside a huge branch swamped with leaves revealed a treehouse, made of soft pine wood with no windows and a single, small door. The whole thing could have possibly been crafted by Cecilia herself.

He entered cautiously, having to duck to fit through the doorway. He wasn't the tallest, but the lady now stand in front of him was shorter, of average height for a female.

"This is my secret base," she informed him, her large brown eyes taking in his own. "Lots of tainers have them, either in trees or in small caves. You can get your Pokemon to make one for you if you see a weak looking area in a cliff-face or a large tree. I come here to hide or relax from the outside world."

Erik scanned the room, a huge sky blue mat welcomed them and directly in front of him was a huge poster on the wall with a Pokeball on it. Two Treecko dolls lay on the floor underneath it, a table and chairs to the right of the house with a bed and laptop to the left. Erik heard noise coming from the laptop and wondered over, seeing that it was showing the news report of himself right now, he listened to what it was saying about him:

"As you can clearly see," a voiceover from Gabby announced, to an onscreen image of Erik spying on the two Magma members from behind a boulder. "Norman's son is looking to follow the two back to their base so he can request to join them."

Two minutes of highly edited footage and lies followed, Gabby and Ty seemingly having followed Erik since he had left Mauville, the footage even lasting until he climbed Mt. Chimney. They must have continued following him even after he had beaten them.

"There he goes, climbing up the mountain to his destiny." Gabby stared directly at the camera the entire time, showing no sign of remorse. It was almost as if she believed every single word she was saying. "And now," she continued, "we confronted Erik and have exclusive footage of the boy himself."

An edited clip showed, first of him having to stop what Gabby described as his "rabid and out of control Combusken" from destroying their camera, then to Roller repeatedly smashing Magnemite with a rock, despite "a battle never taking place", then finally, Lady and Roller standing over Magnemite and Whismur as Erik threatened to kill them if the footage of him wasn't deleted.

"Pictures say a thousand words, and videos speak a thousand pictures," Gabby summed up, "this boy Erik needs taking down. I repeat, no battle took place, his actions and threats were because he caught us trying to film him and wanted it all covered up. But you do not bring ace reporters Gabby and Ty down easily, we bring you, the people, all the top stories no matter what! G and T signing out."

"They've been showing that report twice an hour, all day," Cecilia spoke as soon as the report finished. Erik was stunned.

"It's all lies.." Erik could barely manage a whisper.

"I know," came the reply from Cecilia, "anyone who messes with the media or the authorities gets burned."

"Do you know who these authorities are?" Erik asked the question that had been on his mind for a while.

"No one does."

"How did you know the media were lying about me? Why did you save me?"

"I can tell who the bad ones are, the type of people that join Magma, and you're not one of them."

"I'm not a good person, Cecilia."

"Maybe that's what we need, in a world where the good people get nowhere, we need someone to break the ice. Someone who's not the best of people to make their mark in order to let the good people in, if you get me?"

"Not really," Erik laughed, before jumping backwards suddenly as one of the Treecko dolls turned out to be alive. Cecilia giggled.

"Your Combusken seems strong from what I've seen."

"Me and Blaze go back a long way."

"Blaze?" she said quizzically. "Oh! You nickname your Pokemon, that's so cool! Anyway Erik I've been meaning to say, feel free to camp out up here until tomorrow. By then, the media will have probably found a new story to spin and you can carry on your journey without the hassle."

"Thank you, but why?" Erik was confused at the stranger's kindness.

"Why not? It will be fun," she replied, a sparkling white smile engulfing her face once more.

* * *

Dancer used her electricity to power up a lamp, dimly lighting up the treehouse interior as night closed in. Cecilia had just returned from scavenging for supplies, herself and her Treecko picking up many berries for the Pokemon, with nuts and roots for Cecilia and Erik to feast on.

"Thank you," Erik started, "I think we will leave in an hour or two, the cover of night will aid us and allow us to sneak through to Fallabor town."

"It's too dangerous to travel through Route 113 at night, besides, it would be best to wait until tomorrow for things to blow over before leaving."

Erik thought of a retort but held his tongue as a menacing thought flowed through his mind. "Why doesn't she want me to leave," he pondered, "is she deliberately keeping me here, she could well work for the media or Magma and I'd have no way of knowing."

"What are you thinking?" Cecilia asked, noticing the sudden silence.

"Where abouts did you go?" He thought if she hesitated or gave a suspicious answer, she could well have popped out to one of his enemies. It was making sense now, why else would a random trainer try to save him because 'she knows the media like to twist things' and 'she could tell he's not the type to join Magma'.

"I told you? I went to rummage up some food for us.." Cecilia looked almost offended at the question, as if she could read Erik's suspicions.

"Never mind," he replied, seeing his team helping themselves to dinner. He decided he would leave tonight, recalling his Pokemon into their Pokeballs whilst Cecilia was sleeping and leaving the treehouse.

Another silence took over the treehouse, one that didn't depart for the next couple of hours until they all headed to sleep. Erik on the floor recalling his team into their Pokeballs, informing his host that he didn't want them to sleep on the hard wooden surface.

* * *

Erik threw the ladder and climbed downwards to the surface. He had waited for Cecilia to fall sound asleep then bailed, tip-toeing quietly out of the treehouse so he didn't awaken her.

He reached the bottom and ran towards Route 113, his team were now rested and although still weak, he was confident they were ready for another battle if need be, after replenishing themselves with food and a brief sleep inside their Pokeballs, he let them all out to accompany him.

He turned back to look at the treehouse once he had reached the end of Route 111, it was barely visible but he could swear he saw a shadowed figure pulling the ladder back up. He was sad to leave Cecilia as he did, after all the help she had given him, but knew he could not risk her working in secret for one of his enemies.

Turning back around to face Route 113 he immediately saw why he had been warned about it.

An enormous fog hung over the area in front of him, clouding out any vision he would've been granted by the starlight. A quick nod to Blaze and his Pokemon shot out a ball of fire to attempt to light up the pathway ahead of him.

A thicket of large grass burst into flames, allowing Erik to see Route 113 was covered in such thickets and was, luckily, very linear by the brief glimpse of the route he could now see.

"Right," he spoke to his team, "I need all of you apart from Blaze to return inside your Pokeballs, it's too dangerous out here for you all."

His request was greeted by a stubborn refusal, his team wanted to take the journey with him, however perilous the trek seemed.

"Okay, we'll do this together," he chuckled, to a huge roar from each individual member of the group.

* * *

Erik struggled to breathe, a glance behind him saw his lagging team having the same problem. The volcanic ash was too much from them to bare, but it was too late to turn back now.

Blaze continuously lit thickets of long grass on fire, lighting them a path through the foggy darkness. He inhaled and spat another flame, this one causing a loud screech from within, a metallic bird flying upwards into the sky. The fire glistened off of the bird's steel skin to illuminate the route in front of them. From here Erik could now see Fallabor town and a hut closer to him, both were still a long way away, but now he knew where he was going. He knew he was heading in the right direction.

Lady shot out a plume of water at the Skarmory, the flames that had engulfed the steel Pokemon being extinguished. Erik followed up Lady's intuitive move by throwing a great ball at Skarmory; capturing it and naming her "Steel".

"Keep it up everyone, we will stop for a rest at that hut we saw," Erik declared to his Pokemon, they all looked shattered and weak but wanted to continue alongside their trainer.

Minutes passed as they struggled on, Lady had collapsed already and the rest of the team weren't far behind. Erik refused to let them continue; withdrawing them all into their Pokeballs. All except Lady and Blaze, the former he now carried in his arms as they made their way through the ash strewn route.

His Tentacool's breath was shallow and pulse weak in the extreme. Blaze stuttered in his walking, coughing constantly through the ash and smoke. A small light in the distance guiding them towards the hut, and respite from the torture.

* * *

The struggle continued, each footstep more difficult than the last. Each step kicking up ash off the floor and into the air for Erik or Blaze to inhale, the path they had taken behind them now lit up in flames. At this rate, Erik and Blaze would burn the entirety of Route 113 down.

Minutes later they finally reached the hut, slamming the door to one side and entering. Lady's pulse had gone completely now as Erik set her down upon a large, wooden table in the centre of the room.

Glass artifacts littered the hut, from pipes to vases to replica Pokemon. An elderly man burst out of a back room, quickly followed by one much younger - to see Erik hopelessly trying to revive Lady with CPR.  
"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded the aging gentleman, who hadn't a single hair on his head that wasn't grey.

"You answer my dad this instant," the boy followed, a Pokeball in his grasp.

"Sorry," blurted Erik in a rush, "my Pokemon is dying. Help, please."

The two residents ran over to where Erik's Tentacool now lay, checking for a pulse and attempting to clear her airways, to no avail.

"I'm sorry young man," the elderly man spoke with genuine sadness, "she's gone."

"There must be something you can do?!" Erik roared, he was furious with himself for not listening to Cecilia and staying the night. Even if she had turned out to be working for Team Magma, at least Lady would still be here with him now.

"Sorry, we lack any specialist equipment, we just fashion glass items out of ash here; to sell."

Erik's head span, he felt incredibly dizzy.

"Are you okay?" the son enquired.

"I..I.." Erik attempted to reply, collapsing to the ground coughing and spluttering. He turned to Blaze for assistance, but his Combusken was already on the floor unconscious. Route 113 had defeated them both.

As Erik's vision faded he stared at Lady, she was lost to him.

"If only I'd listened.." he spoke aloud, to no one and everyone. "If only I'd.. list..ened.."

The world went black.


	16. Team Up

Chapter Twelve - Team Up

Erik looked around the cabin, sunlight crept in through the cracks in the wooden planks that made up the hut, informing him that dawn had arrived.

The room he was lay in was mostly unchanged from the night before, apart from Blaze now lay upon the table where Lady was when he collapsed. The two men that lived here now were nowhere to be seen.

"Blaze," he croaked, his hoarse voice swiftly followed by whooping coughs. His Combusken lay still, unanswering.

"Blaze!" he croaked louder, his voice feeling as if it were ripping his throat apart. Still, his Pokemon remained motionless.

Erik weakly clambered to his feet, feeling as if it took all of his remaining strength to do so, before he began stumbling over to the table. The room dimmed noticeably with each feeble step he took, as he barely managed to put one foot in front of the other. The sunlight poking its way into the hut evaporated, replaced by only darkness, the only illumination in the room coming from the table itself; Erik couldn't see the source of the light but it managed to light the cabin singlehandedly.

"Blaze," he whispered once more, before running his hand over his friend's lifeless body. His Combusken had always been warm to the touch but all Erik felt now was cold, like his Pokemon's body was made of ice.

"Please," he pleaded, "please Blaze, no.."

Blaze's eyes shot open, bloodstained, tired, but most of all, furious. The Pokemon opened his beak, and to Erik's shock, words squeaked out.

"You killed me.." came a voice half squawk, half human. "You killed us.."

"You killed us.." another voice echoed, the door to the rear of the house bursting open to reveal Lady standing tall on her tentacles.

"No!" Erik shouted in disbelief. "NO!"

* * *

Erik awoke coughing and spluttering.

"Are you okay?!" an aging gentleman cried, shaking Erik. It took a couple of moments for Erik's vision to return from to normal from the blur it was at first, for him to recognise the old man as the owner of the cabin.

"Blaze," Erik whispered, his voice almost as hoarse as it was in his nightmare.

"Your Combusken is okay. We heard you shouting in your sleep, what happened?"

"Night..mare.." he croaked in response. Erik realised that he was lying on the wooden floor, with a blanket of straw covering him. Sunlight peeking through the cracks in the walls with Blaze resting on the table in the middle of the room, the whole scene seemed eerily familiar.

"We took the liberty of burying your Tentacool when the ash storm stopped," the boy continued, before being interrupted by his father.

"You and your Combusken are lucky to be alive, bot-" the man's words were cut out by a cry from Erik.

"Blaze is alive?!" he coughed, his intended shout sounding more like he was being strangled.

"Yes," the man continued, noticeably irritated at being interrupted, "both of your airways were filled with soot, if either of you were out there any longer your lungs wouldn't have been able to handle it. Your Tentacool's lungs were only small, which is why hers couldn't."

"Has the.. ash.. gone..?" Erik croaked.

"Yep, a few hours after you collapsed it stopped; suffocated a raging fire too. No idea what kicked that up." It was the boy's turn to reply, his huge brown pupils staring directly at Erik.

"I'll.. leave.. now.."

"No chance," the old man replied sternly, "you need to get some food and water in you first, as do your Pokemon. Leave after breakfast once you've recovered some more of your strength."

Erik was in no mood to argue. His dream had really shocked him, so he sat up in his makeshift bed without a word, ready to be served whatever the two men had prepared for breakfast.

* * *

With the taste of warm bread and butter still fresh in his mouth, Erik carefully made his way through the farmlands which resided besides Fallabor Town. He thought that the ash may choke the crops, rendering them unable to grow; but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Fields laced with grain and other vegetables looked to be thriving in the mixed weather conditions underneath the volcano.

Erik brushed aside a long stalk of grain, finding himself on the other side of the fields. His team all resting safely inside their Pokeballs after a berry breakfast appeased their spirits from the torment of the previous night.

"Erik!" came the squeal from across the town, May had spotted him instantly. "It's a disaster, come quickly!"

She half-ran into the nearby house, which was slightly larger than the rest of the stone buildings littering the edge of the farmland. Erik sighted both a Pokemon centre and contest hall on his way, also spotting the odd flowerbed here and there through the dirt floor that covered the town, which was actually more of a small farming village.

Once he reached the house in the centre of town, Erik bumped his head off of the low door frame, underestimating just how low it was before stumbling into the home. Lab equipment and strange rocks could be seen all over the place, resting up against walls or lying on many small glass tables or the leather sofa.

"My husband!" shouted a small, plump lady who looked to be in her early fifties. "He's been kidnapped by that team something or other, they were interested in the meteorite he was researching."

"When was this, Mrs. Cozmo?" asked May in a sweet tone.

"In the early hours of this morning, they've been gone a good few hours now. You should've acted sooner May, he is your father's best friend after all." Erik noticed a sharpness in her tone that he did not like, but remained silent.

"I had to wait for Erik, I'm not strong enough to save him by myself," she responded in the same sweet tone. "We will get your husband back here in one piece for you."

"Good. They ran off towards meteor falls to the west."

"Hold on," Erik interrupted. His voice was a lot clearer now with it no longer hurting his throat with every word, thanks to the three glasses of water he gulped down at the cabin. "It will be safer for you to remain here with the professor's wife," he said to May.

"No way," May snapped, "I'm coming with you, you always get the glory. Besides, Cozmo actually knows me, he might think you're another member of Team Magma if he watched the television report on you."

"Good point," Erik conceded, as they both turned to leave the house.

* * *

Lisia and her Altaria locked eyes with Erik and Dancer, the Pikachu with her paw holding her trainer's hand.

"Give that Pikachu back to us, Erik," Lisia demanded. Erik and May had bumped into Lisia as she exited the contest hall, and with some 'encouragement' from May, Erik had released Dancer from her Pokeball in order to let her decide who she now went with.

"Dancer stays with me," Erik replied, feeling the Pikachu's grip on his hand tightening. "She wants to, we have come a long way together since you last saw her, Lisia.

"She belongs to Emma, not you," came the retort.

"Dancer wishes to stay with me." Erik was still shocked that his Pikachu chose to stay with him rather than march out to rejoin the contest hall. A huge surprise, but a pleasant one.

"I was against Erik keeping that Pikachu at first," May chirped in, pushing her way forward. "I even demanded he take it back to you. But now, look at the two of them, the Pikachu wants to stay and fight for him. You both must have been through a lot Erik?"

"We have," Erik replied, trying to figure out what would make Dancer stay. "She even joined in a couple of battles for me when I needed her."

"Exactly!" May responded. "My father always said that when a Pokemon wins in battle for its trainer, the bond strengthens."

"That must be it!" Erik exclaimed, to himself more than anyone else. "So you see Lisia, Dancer and I have bonded."

With a grunt Lisia stormed off back into the contest hall. Erik had already healed his team at the Pokemon centre and now they were all back to fighting strength. He had withdrawn Steel from storage as he already had a poison-typed Pokemon in his party so Glutton wasn't needed, and a fire one instead of his new Numel; whereas he had never used a steel-typed creature in battle before.

"So you don't mind walking with me this time?" Erik asked May cheekily as they left the village, entering the rock strewn path known as Route 114. The terrain at the start of the route was manageable, mainly more farmland until the path split into the large lake with wooden bridge hovering over it. Further on arose a mini-mountain, complete with steep hillsides and many boulders.

"What do you mean by that?!" May snapped, clearly angered by his joke.

"Err..nothing," Erik replied cautiously. "Which way to Meteor Falls?" he said, attempting to change the subject.

"Over the bridge and up the mountain, obviously."

The two walked in silence as they normally did, Erik always seemed to annoy her. Or maybe she was just easily annoyed? He didn't know which anymore.

A little further on a line of trees covered in berries line the pathway before the river.

"Oh look," May exclaimed, and the silence was broken. "A Zangoose over there, eating berries!"

"That's cute," Erik thought to himself before saying aloud, "we should gather some of those berries for our own Pokemon."

"Agreed," came May's reply with an accompanying smile, as the two sneaked up to the trees. They didn't want to disturb the Zangoose, the Pokemon known to be quick to anger if provoked. A fact shown to them in evidence as May stepped on a twig, the snap of which sounded like the volcano overlooking them had just erupted.

The Zangoose leapt at them with razor-sharp claws glistening in the sunlight, Erik dived in front of May to protect her from the lunge. He raised his hand to guard himself from the aggressor, but each claw was a knife blade and sliced into his palm. Erik screamed out in pain.

May had released her Marshtomp, the water Pokemon blasting the Zangoose away leaving Erik to grasp his hand in pain. Blood oozed out of the fresh wounds; two crimson scythes embedded in his palm.

"Erik!" May screamed when she noticed the wounds. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, luckily Zangoose isn't a poison type," he mused in reply, as blood began running down his palm and dripping onto the ground.

"We've got to get that looked at, they might have something for you at the Pokemon centre?"

"No time, we have to save Cozmo," Erik replied sternly. May opened her mouth to reply but knew there was no changing Erik's mind once it was made up.

"At least let me bandage it." It was her turn to be stern, unravelling the bow in her hair which turned out to be rather large - big enough to wrap around Erik's hand at any rate.

"Thank you," Erik commented as May tied off the makeshift bandage, it fit nicely around his palm and soaked the blood up effectively. "Shall we continue?" he added, with a smile.

* * *

"We'll have to climb up," Erik realised, receiving a worried grimace from May. The two had been searching for a way to get up the mountain for half an hour now, to no avail. "I'll give you a hand."

Erik released both Blaze and Ice from their Pokeballs to help them up, with only one hand it was a tough ask for him to climb the mountain, but he had no other choice. With his uninjured right hand and help from Blaze, the two combined to lift May up. She grabbed onto a ledge and together the three of them combined their strength to lift her all the way.

Erik's turn. He clambered onto the back of Ice along with Blaze, the Combusken then using his strength to elevate his trainer. Erik was shocked by how much weight his Mightyena could hold on his back. May extended a hand down to Erik, who grabbed it eagerly and together they managed to lift him up onto the mountainside.

Erik turned to recall the two Pokemon into their Pokeballs, first up was Blaze; a white stream erupting from the capsule and summoning the Pokemon back inside. Ice was next, Erik pointed his Mightyena's Pokeball at the Pokemon, but before he could withdraw it the Zangoose was back.

Ice and Zangoose matched each other blow for blow, claws blocked by fangs and fangs blocked by claws. Erik tried saving his Pokemon by launching a great ball at the wild Zangoose, but it just swatted the capsule aside; it would have to be weakened in order to be captured.

The great ball had provided a distraction that led Ice to gain the upper hand, the Mightyena lashing out at his foe with his own claws, ripping into the Zangoose's face, leaving it with a huge cut across its left eye which looked as if it could leave a scar. Erik lobbed another great ball, the Zangoose not seeing it coming this time and was captured, unable to escape from within the capsule.

"What will you name it?" May enquired. "Scar?"

"I was going to pick Scar," Erik thought to himself, "but I can't let someone else name my Pokemon, it's not the same." After a brief silence he finally replied to May, "Fury." The Zangoose's Pokeball disappeared off into storage as they spoke.

* * *

As the two ascended up the steep hillsides and jagged rock faces together, huge holes through the hills and on the flats could be seen.

"What do you think caused them?" asked Erik. He and May had been speaking about all sorts throughout the climb, from talking about his journey, his team to May's own life. Erik had enjoyed the chat immensely.

"Meteors," May said with a deep smile, "that's why they call this place, 'Meteor Falls', silly."

"Look at that one," Erik gasped, noticing the biggest meteor crater of them all as they scaled another small cliff. "You could fit all of Littleroot in it!"

"Not quite," May chuckled in reply, "it's huge, though, I'll give you that."

"Look there's something in the middle, is that a hole?"

"It's the entrance, there should be a ladder nearby."

"How do you know so much about this place, May?"

"My father and I used to always come here for research when I was little, the meteors fell around fifteen years ago so we've been exploring the mystery ever since."

As they reached the hole in the crater, Erik noticed that the ladder descended into total darkness, but he climbed down it regardless, not wanting to look afraid in front of May.

"Oh, Erik, you can catch a new Pokemon in this cave, it counts as a separate area to the route," May mentioned as she climbed down the ladder.

Once at the bottom, they were surrounded by the darkness, unable to see anything at all apart from a dim light directly ahead of them. Erik released Blaze and asked him to light the way, his Pokemon's flames illuminating the passageway. They were surrounded by yellowish walls with stones that looked almost smooth to touch as they made their way towards the light at the end of the narrow tunnel.

"This place is so beautiful, it's full of Pokemon that fell from space with the meteors."

As they reached the light they rounded a corner, and Erik could see that May's words held true.

A huge waterfall filled the cave, with yellow rocks and bridges forming a pathway over the top. The cave descended sharply from where Erik was stood, luckily another ladder was close by. From a ledge overlooking the rest of the cavern, he could see it all. Another exit lay on the other side of the cave and rock-shaped Pokemon floated all around nonchalantly, some shaped like the sun, others like the moon. Erik threw a great ball at one of the sun-shaped ones, May mentioning that it was named a 'Solrock', the others named 'Lunatone'. Erik called his new capture, "Sunny".

"Hey!" May roared, Erik thought the shout was directed at him at first, but turned to look at what she was seeing. Underneath the bridge which was perched above the lake created by the waterfall, Erik could see flashes of red.

"Those must be the Magma members, there must be some more of that flat yellow rock underneath the bridge," he thought to himself, before noticing May was already halfway down the ladder. He bolted after her.

Underneath the bridge the tallest of the two Magma grunts slapped the professor again. The smaller grunt then grabbed by professor by his olive-coloured long hair, slapping him so viciously his glasses flew off, almost into the lake.

"Give it up, you bozos!" May screamed as she approached them. "Let the professor go!"

"Or what?" the tallest Magma member snorted. "You two kids think you can take down a Magma Admin? Well good luck with that one!" he laughed raucously to himself.

"Mylos," the smaller one whispered loud enough for both Erik and May to hear. "We should pair up, take them down in a double battle."

"I don't need your help," Mylos replied to him, the admin's bulging biceps fully on show as he placed one hand on his hip, the other he used to stroke his chin-strap beard. He probably would've used it to comb his hair, but having a buzzcut made that hard to do. "But fine, it will be over quicker with two of us and we can go back to getting this information from the prof."

Mylos sent out a Mightyena, the grunt following up with a Koffing. May replied with her Shroomish and Erik with Steel, giving his new Skarmory her first taste of war.

Mylos's Mightyena let out a huge howl, like it was screaming for its life. The violence of the shout caused rocks to topple from the roof of the cave. The yellow stone may look smooth, but they were as heavy as large boulders, crashing into the bridge and ripping through the wooden surface onto the battlefield underneath.

The rocks slammed onto the battlefield, Steel was agile enough to glide out of the way of most of them but Shroomish was less fortunate, a stone spike hitting her. The grunt's Koffing took the initiative and choked the Shroomish with poison gas, the Magma's Pokemon as well as May and Erik protected underneath yellow rocks, only their Pokemon were underneath the bridge. The Magma members had picked the battlefield with care.

As Shroomish choked, Steel swooped in. She deftly dodged a couple of falling rocks before gliding up high with May's Pokemon in her claws and away from the battlefield. The Koffing followed, floating up high as the Mightyena roared again. Erik saw a spike crash into the Koffing but lost sight of it through a wall of falling rock. Steel continued dodging the rocks and flew back towards Erik and May so that Shroomish could be recalled by her trainer.

As Steel neared the bridge the Koffing appeared through the rocks, spiked stones lodged into the Pokemon's lilac shell.

The weakened Koffing self-destructed.

The enormous explosion destroyed the bridge and sending shards of wood and rock flying out in all directions. Steel was thrown into a wall with two wooden spikes sticking out of her, the Shroomish buried under a pile of rubble and even the Mightyena had a large spiked rock thrown into him.

"What the hell did you do?!" Mylos roared at his comrade, turning when he got no reply to see that his friend had also been crushed by the rocks. Erik had leapt onto May to cover her, and after checking if she was alright, recalled Steel and sent in Roller. May knew her Shroomish was gone underneath all those rocks so she sent out Marshtomp straight away as tears clogged her eyes.

Marshtomp was enraged and blasted water jets at the spike in Mightyena's side, aiming straight at the pressure point to cause maximum damage. Roller rolled rapidly towards the Mightyena and smashed the rock as Marshtomp fired another wave of aqua at the foe, the combined efforts defeating the injured Pokemon.

"You got lucky that my comrade was such a dimwit," Mylos said, sending out a Numel. "But my Pokemon are too well trained for yours."

"Why do Magma love their Numels so much," Erik joked to May, but his friend was in not in the right frame of mind. Seeing death and having one of her Pokemon defeated must be taking a huge toll on her.

Erik instantly saw what Mylos had meant about his Numel being well trained, it should have proved no match in a two-on-one fight, especially with one of his opponents being a water-type, but was deftly rolling out of the way of both water and poisonous attacks from Erik and May's fighters.

The Numel stood up, as Marshtomp and Roller both took a moment to recover their energy. Mylos's Pokemon aimed for the weakened roof, blasting a large burst of flame at the rock surface, which caused a huge shudder that shook the very foundations of Meteor Falls.

Waves of rocks crashed down onto the surface, Erik grabbing May and throwing them both down underneath the yellow rocks, using his body to shield hers from the cave-in. The rocks seemed to roar as they crashed into the surface, dust and darkness kicking up from the avalanche of stone. Luckily, the small rock barrier above them held, but Meteor Falls was split by walls of fallen rock, with the exit now also blocked to them. Roller, Numel and Marshtomp were stuck directly in the middle of the stone pile with Cozmo and Mylos on the other side. All five could easily be dead. May and Erik would have to dig their way through, and hope.


	17. Fire and Water

Chapter Thirteen - Fire and Water

A haze of dust and darkness rescinded before Erik's eyes. The mountain of rubble before him motionless as he wondered whether the Pokemon buried underneath still lived.

"May," he called, turning to his friend who lay slouched up against the yellow rock wall. "Fancy giving me a hand moving these rocks? We've got to try and rescue Roller and Marshtomp."

May didn't seem to hear him, her eyes fixed on the pile of yellow rock. Erik had never seen anyone take the death of one, maybe two of their Pokemon so badly, but then most trainers were prepared for that eventuality when they received their trainer licence. May was just a researcher, it's doubtful she had even considered this could happen.

Erik scooped up a rock and threw it to the side, repeating the process over and over alongside his Pokemon, who wanted to help save Roller. May didn't move a muscle the entire time, her mind remaining elsewhere. Half an hour had passed before Erik and his team made any real progress, a large gap in the gigantic pile of rubble emerging, almost tunnelling through the rubble, like an entrance to the inside of it.

Erik crawled through the tunnel having recalled his Pokemon as it was only large enough to fit one, maybe two people through. He could only manage to see a couple of inches ahead of him at a time with the threat of the tunnel collapsing on him ever present. He pushed forward, hoping Roller was alive, as well as May's Marshtomp. His friend would never be the same again if her Pokemon had been killed, as she thought it had been.

He stopped suddenly, the tunnel had reached a dead end.

Erik pushed the rock in front of him in desperation, expecting it to move only slightly, if at all. To his delight the stone pushed away and fell a short way, rolling across the ground until it hit another rock on the ground. This rock was different to the others, it was orange in colour - a Numel.

Erik climbed out of the tunnel into the clearing. there was enough room in the enclosed space for him to crawl as he checked Mylos's Numel for signs of life, discovering there were none. He looked up to see two more tunnels, one to his right and the other straight ahead, leading to the other side of the pile of stones. He took the latter route.

A flash of green caught his eye as Erik continued making his way through the second tunnel, this one slightly more spacious than the last. He used his arms to drag himself forward, shaking Roller to attempt to awaken the Gulpin, but it was no use. Roller had died when the rocks fell. A sharp pain gripped Erik's heart, but he had to continue, there was still a chance Marshtomp was alive, however small that chance was.

"ERIK!" echoed a scream through the tunnel, a female voice reverberating from behind him.

He climbed back out the tunnel entrance, having never crawled so fast in his life. May was exactly where he had left her, but now had company.

Her marshtomp had collapsed before her, its shallow breaths indicting life still remained within the Pokemon.

"She came out the tunnel a little bit after you went in, I don't know if she's still alive. Help me Erik," May said in a voice as weak as her Pokemon, eyes welling up. She looked as if she had aged twenty years in the last couple of hours with bags underneath her eyes and makeup running down her tear-stained face.

Erik reached into May's bag, the leather bumbag which she always carried around with her, and pulled out a potion. Spraying Marshtomp's wounds caused a slight groan from the creature, but it remained extremely weak even after the potion had been applied.

"We need to get her to a Pokemon centre as soon as possible," he informed May. "Withdraw Marshtomp into her Pokeball and come through the tunnel with me, I bet we can easily get to the other side and then get out of here."

A soft nod was all he got in reply from May, as she withdrew Marshtomp as Erik asked and followed him through the tunnel. She seemed a lot better now that her favourite Pokemon was confirmed alive, but seeing her Shroomish killed as well as the Magma grunt still looked to be too much for her to handle, as she limply followed her friend through the rocks.

Erik reached the end of the second tunnel, realising that in Marshtomp's desperation to escape the enormous pile of stones she had attempted digging in all directions, one after another, in order to get out. She must've taken Roller with her the first time too, before becoming too weak to carrying the Gulpin along with her. Erik carried on digging his way out where May's Pokemon had left off, Marshtomp had almost reached the end of the second tunnel anyway, so it took him only a couple of minutes to see a light beaming through from the other side.

He pushed the last rock aside, he could see clearly out of the tunnel. Mylos was standing over Cozmo, it looked like he had beaten the professor relentlessly with the meteorite now bulging in the Magma Admin's back pocket. But the two of them were no longer alone.

"Look, if I tell you, will you allow me to leave this place?" Mylos asked of the three newcomers. They clearly hadn't noticed the Magma member now had the meteorite as it was hidden from their view.

"Fine," replied the leader of the group. He bore a scar above his left eye, encrusted upon his dark skin.

"Okay, well you have to remember that only Maxie knows all the details, so I will can only tell you what I know. Which isn't much." Mylos was blabbering helplessly, he was terrified of the three men in navy blue cloaks standing in front of him.

Erik was well hidden within the tunnel, but had a full view of the scene unfolding before him. May was also listening in behind him, but she had remained silent since asking Erik to help heal her Marshtomp.

"Out with it," the leader of the trio snapped. His two accomplices were hiding their faces behind hoods, they dressed exactly the same as Team Magma, just in navy blue rather than crimson red. The leader, however, had his hood down and instead wore an aqua blue bandana with a patch covering his right eye.

"S-sorry," Mylos continued. "Cozmo here had the information we needed for plan B of our scheme, to be used if plan A fails."

"What are these two plans?" the leader growled, his voice as rough as a raging sea. Erik knew who he was; Archie, the leader of Team Aqua.

"Plan A is to use Mt Chimney, activate it with some ancient power and harness its energy to do something, I don't know what. We set up camp at the summit a few weeks ago but have only gained access to the ancient item recently."

"What item?" Archie demanded, his voice growing fiercer each time he spoke.

"A meteorite. Boss says the fragment will have enough power to cause the volcano to become active. He has it now." Erik knew that Mylos was lying, but didn't dare shout out. He trusted Archie and Aqua almost as little as he trusted Magma.

"And the backup plan?" Archie followed, as his two goons moved forwards slightly.

"All I know is what I overheard from Maxie one time, 'We will release and control the ultimate power.' Cozmo here knew nothing about any sort of ultimate power, my mission failed." Another lie, Erik thought, as his focus once again shifted to the meteorite in Mylos's back pocket.

"Right, take him," Archie ordered his two grunts, who promptly grabbed Mylos by the arms and dragged him out of the cave.

"You said you'd let me go," the Magma member complained repeatedly.

"We will," Archie eventually replied as they left the cave.

Erik ran out to check on the professor, but Cozmo was too shaken to reply. May weakly followed behind, a slight smile appearing on her face when Erik asked if she was feeling alright, the smile fading as quickly as it had appeared when he looked away.

"Lets get out of here," he spoke to both of them. Erik half carried Cozmo out of the cave, the professor too weak to walk by himself. May lagged behind silently as they followed Archie and Mylos out of the southern exit.

* * *

They reemerged from the southern exit to the top of a hill, which overlooked the entire town of Rustboro, but before Erik had time to admire the view Cozmo threw out a Pokeball. A Skarmory emerged from the device, the professor rapidly jumping on the back of it with the Pokemon flying away; back to his home, Erik presumed.

Erik would've tried flying away on Steel, but remembered what had happened last time he tried riding one of his Pokemon, he had nearly drowned after trying to cross a lake with Lady. Besides, Steel was still weak from the earlier battle.

"I want to go home, Erik," May informed him, her voice extremely shaky and weak. "I want to go back to my Dad."

"Would you like me to escort you?" he enquired, making sure to smile as he said so.

"I need some time alone," she said emotionlessly, seeming as if all of the spirit had been drained from her. Her skin appearing as pale as snow with her eyes painfully bloodshot. She seemed unable to keep eye contact with Erik for more than a moment.

"Okay, I will go to Mt. Chimney, although it's a long way."

"You can cut through Verdanturf Tunnel, they finished clearing it out last week," May said as she began walking into the distance.

"I thought they stopped the project?" Erik asked, but May ignored him as she strolled away. "Will she ever recover from this?" he pondered quietly to himself.

Erik made the walk down to Rustboro, he would need to heal his weakened team at the Pokemon Centre as well as withdrawing a new sixth member of his team. He would take Glutton out of storage, directly replacing one poison-type Pokemon for another and although his team didn't seem to like the Koffing when they first met him, they'd bond with her over time.

* * *

The journey back to Mt. Chimney was uneventful, as was the climb back up the mountain. Erik remembered where all of the footholds were and wasn't half as phased by the ascent as he had been the first time. His father's words when he was younger had proved true, "Most of the challenge of trying something new is in your own mind."

Erik lifted himself over the final ledge of the climb, finding himself facing the cable car station once more. This time, however, there were no Numels to greet him as the station looked to be devoid of life. All was quiet, except from the faint noises creeping down from the summit, noises which sounded like raging battles as voracious as the lava within the volcano's depths.

He entered the station, the large metal door unlocked this time, allowing him to easily push his way inside. The interior of the large building consisted of two huge boxes held by a strong looking rope. The two boxes, or cars as they were known, were made entirely of glass, allowing someone to see for miles out of it as they rode it to the summit. Erik assumed that there were two further cars at the top station too, so he would be able to make the reverse trip if need be.

As he stepped into the glass cage, he pulled a lever on the platform just outside the door. Someone else was usually meant to pull these, someone that worked here maybe, but from the stiffness of the lever it had barely been used for a while now. He dived back into the car as it began its ascension to the top. The metal rope that held all the cars was now revolving, groaning and squeaking.

The view from the car was astounding, Erik could see everything. The car shuddered violently from time to time but he felt strangely safe inside of it, especially as he had released Steel from her Pokeball just in case, to catch him if he were to fall. Hoenn spread out before them as if it were on a map. He could retrace his journey through all the towns he had been to, seeing the next Gym town, Lavaridge, nearby with his father waiting in Petalburg to await him if he was victorious.

He could also see where he would journey afterwards if he managed to defeat his dad, he would next need to cross rivers and oceans to get to some of the destinations on his Gym challenge. Erik realised that he had probably expired all of his favours from Mr. Briney, not wanting to take advantage of his old sailor friend, so he would need to discover a new way to traverse water.

The cable car stopped suddenly at the summit station, Erik making a careful step out of the glass cage and back onto solid ground. This station came across exactly the same in appearance as the lower building, and was again unmanned. Erik left through another giant metal door, this time letting out a huge squeal as he opened it

The air scorched Erik's skin as he walked onto the rocky surface of the volcano's peak. Straight ahead of him was a descent through a jagged-looking pass which he knew from his earlier view from the cablecar led to Lavaridge Town. But what interested him came from behind where he was now standing, the shouts and roars from both Magma and Aqua members duking it out in titanic battles.

Erik remarked that the summit's surface was surprisingly flat, solid and stable ground leading his vision through a heat haze, all the way up to a large pool of lava which seemed to go on forever. He spotted Grant battling with an Aqua member before him. Archie must've held his word and released Mylos from his custody, as he stood with the admin and Maxie all looming on a ledge which bore over the lava pool further ahead. Maxie clutched the meteorite in his left hand.

His vision flicked back to Grant, who had just defeated his adversary with his Poochyena now approaching the Aqua member with intent. A quick nod to Steel sent the Skarmory zooming towards the Poochyena, picking it up in her claws, flying ahead and dropping it into the pool of lava.

"Erik!" Grant snapped, sweat trickling down his face, even the Magma members were struggling with the intense heat. "So you're working for Aqua now?!"

"No," Erik replied as he made his own approach to the Magma grunt. "I'm here to stop you."

"I'm a lot stronger now you fool!" Grant roared, a cackle escaping his throat afterwards. Erik was unsure whether the grunt had laughed intentionally or was choking on the ash-filled air.

"We'll see about that," he replied, thrusting Glutton's Pokeball into the air, the Koffing escaping from within the capsule.

Glutton floated from side to side cautiously, with Grant's Poochyena growling noisily at the thought of fresh battle. The Koffing emitted thick smoke, suffocating the battlefield, the smokescreen blinding Erik's vision. He could no longer see Grant, or his Poochyena until the hound bolted out of the fumes to crunch his fangs down on Glutton's purple shell.

The Poochyena's eyes shot open, it looked repulsed by something, leaping off of Glutton and back down on the mountain surface. The scene causing Erik to remember Fiery path, where his team retreated from the Koffing due to it's foul stench, the incident repeating itself with the Poochyena.

Glutton blasted a wave of poisonous liquid at his opponent, sending the Poochyena rocketing back into the cloud of smoke and disappearing from sight.

A minute passed, which seemed like an hour, before the smoke cloud slowly evaporated. Grant's Pokemon strolled out of the fog and roared, the ground beneath them shaking so violently from the effect it felt as if the volcano was erupting.

Glutton looked terrified, he was only a new Pokemon and not used to battle so he was easily frightened by the prospect. The Koffing backed off towards Erik and hid behind his trainer, unwilling to continue the battle.

"Come on Glutton, you were doing so well," Erik whispered to the Koffing, but it was no use. Glutton was too scared to reenter the field of battle.

"Who next," Erik pondered, fingering each of the Pokeballs on his belt. "I guess it's time for Dancer to show if she's really ready to fight for me."

Erik's Pikachu looked back at her trainer as she stepped up to face the weakened Poochyena, Erik could tell that she was eager to prove herself to him now she had committed, a bond had been established between the two and he could feel it. Grant's Pokemon leapt in with its fangs, Dancer gracefully moved out of the way, causing the Poochyena to slam face-first into the ground. A follow up electrical jolt from the Pikachu electrifying her foe and winning her the fight.

"Not again!" Grant cried out, face flushed red with anger and wounded pride. The Magma grunt grabbed his other Pokeball, a Koffing emerging from within after being launched through the air. Erik responded by shouting out his Skarmory's name, Steel flying back to him in order to fight.

Koffing hurled poisonous gas into the air, releasing the fumes from its body for Steel to inhale. The Skarmory remained unperturbed, to Grant's horror.

"Steel types are immune to poisoning," Erik laughed as Steel used her aerial superiority, swiping at the Koffing with vicious claws before flying off again, over and over. The Koffing couldn't keep up. After a few more attacks the Koffing had seemingly given up, giving way for Erik's Pokemon to land a finishing blow with an attack by a wing made from solid steel.

Grant remained silent, staring blankly. As Glutton, Steel and Dancer all leapt for joy at the victory, Erik pulled three berries out of his backpack, one for each of his three victors, as way of a reward. Glutton moved at an incredible speed, gulping down the three berries then looking up at Erik with a smile as if he hadn't done anything wrong, as if he thought all three were meant for him. Dancer scorned Glutton with a slap and a growl, with Steel flying back into the sky.

Erik wordlessly moved past Grant, towards the three men hovering over the pool of lava below. He hadn't realised just how deep the drop off the ledge into the lava pool was until he got closer, the ledge was around twenty metres in length but the drop was enough to kill anyone even without the scorching liquid at the bottom.

"You shouldn't be here kid," was all Erik got from Archie as he strolled up to the leaders of both Magma and Aqua bickering whilst overlooking the ocean of lava below. Mylos stood behind them, almost like a lapdog.

"You should leave here Erik, it's not your time yet," Maxie followed, sparing Erik no more than a glance.

"I'll get rid of the little pest, boss," Mylos added, gesturing to Erik with a finger pointing further down the ledge, a Pokeball clutched in his other hand.

"I'll take you down for what you did to May and Roller," growled Erik. "Then I'll do the same to your boss."

"Good luck with that," replied Mylos with laughter erupting from his throat. "There's a job opening up as second in command of Magma, this is my chance to impress Maxie."

"Enough talking," Erik snapped, he wanted this over and done with so he could move onto the bigger fish.

"As you wish," came the reply, as the Magma admin threw his Pokeball into the air, a Koffing emerging out of the bright light. Erik replied with a Koffing of his own, Glutton floating out with a smile painted across his face.

Glutton approached cautiously, still slightly frightened by the thought of battle. Mylo's Pokemon remained suspiciously unmoving, just floating there.

"You want to know pain?" Mylos screeched as Glutton got close to his Pokemon. "You complain about Roller and your girlfriend, but you have no idea what true pain is. I will give you another taste of it." Mylos turned his gaze from Erik back to his Koffing, "Now!".

The Koffing inhaled, and closed his eyes, expanding slightly. It was as if the Pokemon was trying to force something out of him, then the ground beneath them shook violently, with the air turning to smoke as Erik's ears rang noisily. The Koffing had self-destructed, taking Glutton with it.

As the smoke cleared Erik looked around, Glutton was nowhere to be seen, almost as if he had evaporated. Mylos had already thrown his second Pokemon into battle, a Numel.

"You just throw your Pokemon away like that?!" Erik roared, fire rising within him from the pain of losing another Pokemon.

"We at Magma have plenty," Mylos smirked, completely unphased by losing his own Koffing. "We don't need to follow the rules of one Pokemon per route, we've caught over a hundred Numels living within this volcano alone!"

"Because no one dares to stop them," Erik thought to himself. "They can do whatever they like with no consequences."

Erik sent Ice out for round two, the Mightyena howling as he entered the field of battle. The Numel began harnessing the energy of the lava all around it, soaking up the heat and fire from all around it and erupting like the volcano it stood on with scorching hot liquid, directed at Ice. The Mightyena screamed out in pain as the heat scolded him to the bone, and leapt through the air despite the pain. Ice wrapped his fangs around the Numel's orange shell, freezing it as the cold flowed through his teeth into his opponent's skin. The ice froze the Numel's veins solid.

Ice ran back, then charged into the frozen Pokemon, launching the Numel into the lava. Mylos's warrior's blood changing temperature from sub-zero to unbearably hot in a split second, causing it to explode much like his trainer's Koffing before it.

"No!" Mylos blasted. The explosion attracted the attention of both Maxie and Archie.

"Impressive.." Maxie commented. "Mylos is one of my three admins, yet you defeated him without breaking a sweat. What I've been told about you seems to be correct."

"Not bad, kid," Archie followed. "Let's take this scum down together."

"Why would I help you," Erik snapped.

"Because Maxie here plans to throw the meteorite into the lava, the reaction would cause this here volcano to become active. Maybe even erupt."

"Not true," Maxie said cooly, "all it would achieve is to allow us to fully harness the power of the meteorite."

"Neither of those sounds good, Maxie." Erik looked directly at the Magma boss as he spoke, he felt no fear, even if Maxie was supposed to be a much better trainer than himself.

"Oh, but with this meteorite's harnessed energy, we will be able to help people all over the region," Maxie smiled, keeping his eyes locked in contact with Erik's. "Hoenn is becoming overcrowded, and is surrounded by ocean. But with the power we harness we will be able to expand the landmass, allowing space for new homes to be built; for both people and Pokemon."

"You don't want to help others, only yourself and that boss of yours," Archie retorted, veins throbbing in his neck as the Aqua leader spoke.

"Boss? I thought you were in charge of Magma, Maxie?" Erik asked quizzically.

"I am Erik," Maxie replied, as calm and collected as ever. "And if you help me out today, I will allow you to be my second in command. You have truly proved yourself as both worthy and capable of the honour. I will even allow you to keep the fully charged meteorite, as a welcome gift."

"What would I do with a meteorite?" Erik questioned, intrigued.

"Up to you, but it would have immense power. It could even allow your Pokemon to evolve by your will, or boost their strength dramatically."

Erik thought to himself for a moment, he didn't know who to believe. Maxie sounded convincing, and the power of the meteorite would make him almost unstoppable in his quest to become Pokemon champion.

"You honestly trust this guy?!" Archie said furiously.

"I don't trust either of you," Erik replied, he had made his decision. He had remembered how he had left May, the thought of how hurt and despondent she was because of Magma. "I don't know which of you to believe, but I do know one thing. You must be stopped here and now Maxie."

"You're seriously outnumbered here Erik," a smirk appearing on Maxie's face as he spoke, "even if you manage to defeat me, my grunts will be finished with Aqua soon."

"You're the one who's outnumbered, Max," Archie interrupted, with a matching smirk. "Two against one here, right Erik?"

"I don't want your help," Erik snapped at the Team Aqua leader, "I fight my battles alone."

"Then if you don't win I'll just take down a weakened Maxie, either way, I get what I want."

* * *

Blaze squared up to Maxie's Mightyena. Erik could sense the dark-typed Pokemon was well trained, and maybe even stronger than Blaze. He felt nervous, fearing for his oldest friend as molten lava spit up from the pit and almost reached the two battling Pokemon.

Blaze leapt through the air, aiming to kick his foe over the edge and into the molten magma below. The Mightyena was knocked back, his hind legs slipping off the edge but he managed to hold on, then roared. Blaze nervously stepped back, before launching another kick at his opponent. As the Combusken was in midair, another roar caused him to crash land, Blaze looked terrified and struggled to get back up at the Mightyena climbed fully back over the ledge. Blaze ran back to his trainer, Erik comforting him and throwing out Leaf's Pokeball. He had never seen his Combusken so frightened before.

"What's wrong, why are you so afraid," he whispered into Blaze's ear, but the Combusken just hid behind him, like a child hiding behind their parent.

Out on the battlefield, Leaf was using her usual tactic of attracting her foe with pheromones, but it didn't have the intended effect. The Mightyena was unaffected and open its mouth to roar once more, but Leaf seized the opportunity to launch a powerful stream of poisonous liquid into the opening, sending the Mightyena crashing backwards, over the edge and into the lava.

Maxie made a groaning noise that sounded rather uncaring, before throwing his second of three Pokemon out into the field, a Numel. But before Erik had time to send his own Pokemon out, Maxie withdrew the meteorite from his back pocket.

"Just being around the natural power of Mt. Chimney has slightly charged it, watch and learn, Erik." Maxie threw the small rock with force at his own Pokemon, the Numel being knocked onto its side. The meteorite then started glowing, first orange, then green, then a bright white. The Numel followed suit, glowing the same bright white as the rock that had been thrown at it.

Erik shielded his eyes from the light. Waiting for it to dissipate before removing his arm from his face, seeing that the Numel had been forced to evolve into a Camerupt.

"Not only has he evolved, but he is also much stronger. I used up half of the meteorite's stored energy at once to create this super-Pokemon." A smirk reappeared on Maxie's face, stretching all the way across his defined cheekbones from one side to another.

"Is this why Blaze was so afraid? He sensed you'd used a supernatural power on your Mightyena?"

"I didn't use anything on my Mightyena, even though you only defeated him by using the lava pool he was completely normal," replied Maxie, smirk remaining firmly in place. "Your Combusken was only so afraid because of you, he felt your fear, channeled it. Join us and I will teach you to control it, control everything about your Pokemon."

"I have no fear," Erik roared in response, but deep down he knew he was lying. He wasn't as naive as he used to be, believing that Blaze was so reliable that he was almost invincible. After losing so many Pokemon and seeing what had happened to May after she thought she had lost her first Pokemon, he knew he would be exactly the same if he ever lost Blaze. He refused to send his Combusken back into battle.

He fingered each of the Pokeballs on his belt once more, Ice was weakened and the rest of them had weaknesses to the Camerupt's fire and ground dual-type. Ice would have to do.

Ice howled, trying to intimidate the Camerupt, but his foe remained unperturbed. Maxie's Pokemon seemed to focus its energy, bright white lines appearing throughout his skin. The power of the meteorite. The Camerupt roared.

The ground shook as if the roar had caused an earthquake, then suddenly the rocky surface beneath Ice's feet collapsed, the Mightyena disappearing down into the newly formed hole. As quickly as the hole had appeared it was replaced by a stream of lava, shooting up into the sky with Ice at the summit.

Steel was already in the sky, so she flew over with haste, grabbing Ice in her talons and attempting to swoop back to the ground to return the Pokemon to Erik. Camerupt roared again, sending another plume of lava shooting up into the sky, and another, after another. Steel deftly dodged a few, one scorched a wing, another crashed into her beak, she released Ice from her talons, close enough to Erik for him to retrieve the Mightyena into its Pokeball, before his Skarmory's steel skin was melted entirely by a final lava sprout, evaporating the Pokemon.

Ice was too weak to stand, nevermind fight. Glutton and Steel were gone and Blaze too frightened to move. Leaf and Dancer were all he had left and both weak to fire and ground respectively. Leaf's spore effects were his only hope.

"You need to attract it and send it to sleep, then poison it, I believe in you, Leaf," he stroked his Gloom as he whispered to her, tears clouded his eyes turning his vision hazy as he sent his last hope off to fight.

The initial plan worked, Leaf attracted her opponent before quickly sending it to sleep, but the poison afterwards didn't. Each time Leaf attempted to poison her foe, bright white lines appeared on its surface, seemingly absorbing and destroying the toxins. The Camerupt's eyes shot open as he inhaled for a fiery blast that would annihilate Leaf.

Erik took out her Pokeball at lightening speed and withdrew her as searing flame blasted past where her body once was, he had lost all hope and turned to Blaze. His Combusken's beady eyes met his, sadness making a home within. Blaze hugged him, wrapping his arms around his trainer and holding so tightly Erik felt the air escaping from his lungs. Then Blaze marched out to face his opponent.

Blaze danced around blasts of fire from the Camerupt, kicking him with force and pushing the creature closer and closer to the lava. The Camerupt planted all four feet on the ground, spreading itself wide and roared once more. Blaze backed off slightly, before continuing launching kicks, but this time his opponent held its ground. Blaze could push him back no further.

"Damn! Go go go!" Archie roared at his three Pokemon, a Sharpedo, a Golbat and a Mightyena. Lava once more began shooting out of the ground from the roar of the Camerupt, Blaze was too close to Maxie's Pokemon for the lava to come near him, Archie's three charging Pokemon were the targets.

All three danced through the lava streams, dodging from side to side. The Mightyena was an unfortunate victim of one such stream however, the wave of magma launching him into the air before sending him helplessly into the pool of lava below.

The Golbat and Sharpedo both made it to the Camerupt, who jumped into the air, picking out the Golbat and killing it as easily as Erik could catch and crush a fly. Whilst the Camerupt was in the air, it was vulnerable. Blaze leapt in, slamming his foot so hard into the Pokemon it rocketed backwards. The Camerupt's body fell over the ledge, but it managed to grab on with his front paws, before Sharpedo launched a blast of water at it, sending it crashing downwards into the lava below.

Erik ran up to the edge besides Blaze. The Camerupt was unable to be seen, buried within the ocean of lava below, Erik had won, or so he thought. A bright light appeared from underneath the lava's surface, in the shape of the Camerupt, Blaze pushed Erik back sending his trainer crashing into the ground a distance away from the action.

A stream of lava shot up from the pool, and riding on the top was the Camerupt. Archie's Sharpedo blasted aqua at the Camerupt, the beast replying with a wave of flame. When the two attacks collided, along with the Camerupt and lava entering the impact zone, it caused another explosion.

Blaze was sent crashing backwards into Erik as both the Camerupt and Sharpedo were evaporated in the blast.

"Blaze!" Erik screamed, seeing Mylos tackle and restrain Archie on the ground in the corner of his eye. His Combusken lay unmoving as four Magma grunts approached the scene, Pokeballs in their hands. Maxie sent out his final Pokemon, a Zubat, then followed the same technique and used the other half of the meteorite's stored energy to force it to evolved into a Golbat. As they all closed in on Erik, he was too focused on checking for signs of life in Blaze, struggling to find any.


	18. Mountain Resort

Chapter Fourteen - Mountain Resort

Maxie's Golbat screeched, a piercing sound so violent that even the Magma Grunts started backing off slightly from the scene. Erik turned his head at the ruckus, the screech had snapped his mind back to reality.

He moved his left hand slowly over Blaze's fur, towards his throat to feel for a pulse. His right hand shot towards his belt, picking up each of his remaining three Pokeballs and throwing them towards the Golbat in turn.

The flying creature's wings were laced with white lines, where its veins absorbed the power of the meteorite. Ice was too weak to stand after being scorched by lava, slouching on the floor in front of Erik and ready to give his life to protect his trainer if need be. Leaf stood besides Ice, in her own protective stance.

As Erik saw Dancer stroll out to meet the Golbat, his left hand felt a pulse. Blaze's heartbeat was slow, but present, he was alive! Erik felt a fresh wave of energy coursing through his body, enough to make him climb back to his feet and face down Maxie to conclude their battle. If he was going to go down, he'd go down fighting with his team.

"Still you resist us," Maxie said, sounding half surprised and half amused as Dancer channelled her trainer's anger, inhaling deep breaths and charging her electrical energy. "This is futile Erik, you're trying to bring down the organisation you'll eventually join."

"Stop...Talking…" Erik struggled to push words through his anger, he couldn't force the image of May's distress or Blaze's pain out of his thoughts. "Dancer...End…This."

His Pikachu responded, sending out an almighty electrical blast which seemed to shake the very foundations of the volcano. The wave of energy hit the Golbat directly, but the meteor-charged Pokemon withstood the attack, flying rapidly towards Dancer and attempting to slam an alien strengthened wing into her.

Dancer skipped out of the way of the first attack, but before she knew it the Golbat had swooped back around, hitting her with another wing attack. She was launched into the air, towards the pit of lava, and went over the edge.

A desperate grab onto the ledge was all that saved her from dropping into the scorching liquid below, pulling herself back over with encouragement from Erik. Dancer looked resilient, at first she refused to even step foot into a battlefield, but now she acted as if she were born to fight. The Golbat however, remained relentless, opening his jaws so wide that all Dancer could see was the black pit of its mouth, poison dripping off its sharp fangs.

Dancer charged all her remaining energy, sending out one huge electrical blast directly down the Golbat's throat, frying it from the inside. The bat-like creature didn't stop its charge, the Pikachu moving out of the way with a deft pirouette as Maxie's final Pokemon flew into the lava below. Erik was unsure whether it had already been killed before it landed into the pool of fire, or if the lava had landed the final blow.

Erik turned his head at the sound of faint coughing and spluttering from behind him. Blaze was awake.

He held the Combusken in both arms and hugged him tightly, tears streaming down his face before getting caught in Blaze's feathers.

"I thought I'd lost you, my friend," he sobbed, clutching his Pokemon as if he never wanted to let go.

"You defeated me..." Maxie spoke in disbelief, as Erik caught the Magma grunts closing in from behind out of the corner of his eye. Dancer rejoined Leaf and Ice as they formed a mini-barrier around Erik and Blaze.

"Stop!" Maxie commanded. "Let him go, he's too weak to confront us now. We'll keep Archie and proceed with our plan."

Maxie grabbed the meteorite off the floor, and walked up to the ledge before swinging his arm back as if to throw the rock into the lava. Before he could launch his arm forwards his PokeNav buzzed violently.

"Maxie," a distorted voice called out from the device. "Make your way to Mt. Pyre with all haste. We've found what we were looking for, the meteorite is powerless compared to what we've discovered."

"On my way," he responded, as if he were talking to a higher authority, before turning to his goons. "To Mt. Pyre, release Archie, carrying him will only slow us down." He put the meteorite back in his back pocket as he went to leave, Mylos releasing Archie and leading the grunts back towards the cable car station. Maxie followed shortly after.

"Dancer, what're you doing?" Erik whispered to his Pikachu, who began following Maxie as if to attack him. Then she stopped, as she turned back around he noticed that Dancer had stolen the meteorite from Maxie's back pocket, so skillfully the Magma boss hadn't noticed.

"Nice one," Archie's gruff voice wandered over. "Although now they've found the orbs we have an even bigger problem. Catch you later."

"Orbs? What do you mean?" Erik called after him, but the Aqua boss paid no heed to him, jogging off towards the cable cars in pursuit of Magma.

* * *

Despite being surprisingly light, the meteorite felt like it weighed a ton in Erik's palm as he studied it whilst beginning his trek towards Jagged Pass. He had already considered using it to forcefully evolve his team, or to boost their strength, but he wasn't sure of the risks of doing so.

The rock had fallen from space, as May had told him as they made their way towards Meteor Falls. "Many fragments of the meteors still containing power were found within the few months after the asteroid shower, some forcing evolution of certain Pokemon, or certain types. Others were even more powerful than that. They are all held by resourceful individuals or scientists now though, I hear Mr. Stone has a fair few."

Erik didn't know what to do with the space rock, so he decided to place it into one of the pockets of his backpack until later. He had other problems to worry about, like the problem that lay now in front of him.

Jagged Pass was a sharp descend, full of mud and dirt. The slopes downwards were steep and many a trainer could be seen practising along the route. Erik couldn't afford a battle with his weakened team, so he looked for an alternative route down the slopes. There were many pathways through the pass that looked viable for him to travel along, but only two weren't infested by trainers. Both, however, were thick with long grass and wild Pokemon. With his view overlooking the entire pass, he took the route that looked least treacherous.

Trudging through the long grass was exhausting, tentatively putting one foot in front of the other whilst making sure to avoid any wild Pokemon jumping out and attacking him was wearing Erik out. Leaf and Dancer walked alongside him, the only two Pokemon in his party still able to keep pace with him, although the latter was panting for breath with each step.

Suddenly, Erik felt himself falling to the floor, a sharp pain imprinting itself on his chest from the wild Spoink bouncing up and colliding with him. Leaf leapt to his defence, releasing sleep powder up into the air whilst Dancer tackled the Spoink to the ground, inhaling the fumes whilst doing so.

Erik lobbed a spare Pokeball at the aggressor, capturing the sleeping Pokemon whilst withdrawing Dancer into her Pokeball as she slept.

"Hello Bounce," he said to the device, cracking a slight smile as he spoke. He added the Pokeball to his belt, meaning he now had five Pokemon in his party, with another to be withdrawn from storage once he had arrived in Lavaridge Town.

* * *

The descent had been difficult, Erik had been forced to slide down numerous muddy slopes and almost tripped on sharp rocks covered by the ash many times. The closer he got to the bottom, the further it seemed away, until the ash cleared and Lavaridge Town lay only a few steps away.

Erik broke into a run, almost a sprint, aiming directly at the Pokemon Centre at the town's entrance. Throwing his Pokeballs down on the front counter he demanded his team be treated at once, informing the nurse at the desk that it was an emergency as his team were dead or dying. Whilst he sat in the waiting room he withdrew Fury from storage, using the facility at the Pokemon Centre to scan his wrist device against the machine, and input the option to withdraw a Pokeball from the storage. After a few minutes Fury's ball popped out of the dispenser.

It had been a hectic day, and the mid-afternoon sun was hidden behind thick clouds as Erik left the Pokemon Centre with the freshly healed Ice, Blaze, Dancer and Leaf all by his side. A cool breeze hit him square in the face as the doors to the building slid shut behind him, allowing him to finally get a full look at Lavaridge Town.

Lavaridge was a relatively small and peacefull village, settled neatly into the side of Mt. Chimney. Few houses could be seen, the little that could appeared to be more like hotels than homes, with visitors to the town relaxing in two giant hot springs fuelled by the heat of the volcano, one for males and one for females. The hot springs were tucked into the mountainside, with lovely warm sand covering the village's surface.

Erik could see why many would make the treacherous journey here, the town was more of a resort, seeming so quaint, relaxed and distant from the rest of the world. Visitors were able to come to the town in order for them escape their everyday problems along with the troubles of Hoenn.

"Everyone, say hello to our newest capture, Bounce," Erik called to his team as he released the Spoink from its Pokeball. The newest team member bounced up and down delighted in front of her new friends, who all seemed to take her to heart straight away.

"And the sixth member of our new party," Erik began, clutching Fury's Pokeball in his hand before lobbing it into the air, the Zangoose appearing arms folded. Blaze and Ice sneered at the normal-typed Pokemon, who seemed uncaring. Leaf and Dancer also looked uneasy at Fury being a part of the team, but Erik knew they would accept him eventually.

He considered relaxing, taking a couple of days out from his adventure and instead spending them resting in the mountain resort. But with Maxie headed to Mt. Pyre, and the threat of trainers being banned from Hoenn completely looming ever larger, he knew a couple of days could be too much. The fourth gym beckoned.

* * *

Scorching heat choked Erik as he looked around Lavaridge Gym, the hot air reminding him of Mt. Chimney's summit. The gym consisted of a single large room, the surface of which was made up of cobblestone, steam arising from the cracks in the cobbles. To the rear of the room lay a hill of solid rock, with ledges all over that needed climbing. The hill was flanked to either side by pools of lava, with a small moat wrapping its way around the front, a thin bridge of cobble the only way across. A final check of the room led to Erik spotting two further hot springs, one on the left side of the room and the other on the right hand side.

"Welcome," bellowed a lady who looked to be in her early twenties from atop the hill. "Flannery's the name, the Heat Badge is the game. Here to play?" Her dark red hair tied up in a bun, Erik noticing that she was the only person in the room not covered in sweat. Her only wearing red shorts with a black short top probably aided that.

Her three minions all lined up underneath the hill, to which Flannery introduced them in order from left to right. First up was Cole, who had slightly darker skin than the other two, as well as being well built compared to the other two trainers' more slim figures. Second in the line was Sadie, with blonde hair tied up in a bun, wearing the same red shorts as Flannery but this time with accompanying red t-shirt. Finally, Zane. The man with a baby face, shoulder length silver hair and slim but athletic figure stared directly at Erik with bulging green eyes. Each of the three were drenched in sweat.

"Who first," Erik said, half-ignoring Flannery's question.

"That would be me," Cole replied in a deep monotonous voice. "Good luck against my Numel, moulded in the fires of Mt. Chimney itself."

"I'll take my chances," Erik smirked, nodding to Fury who strolled out onto the battlefield, arms folded. Erik couldn't tell whether his Zangoose was being moody or was just nonplussed by it all, he would soon find out it was the latter.

The Numel growled, focusing its energy and releasing a stream of lava which shot up from the cracks in the cobblestones. Fury stepped casually to one side before another stream hit him straight on, but the Zangoose didn't so much as wince.

Fury leapt forward and began swiping relentlessly at the Numel, and before his foe had time to react, Erik's Pokemon picked it up and hurled it across the room with impressive strength into the hot spring. The fire and ground type Pokemon was unable to survive in the water. Fury strolled past Erik and his team without so much as a backwards glance, before getting in the other hot spring and relaxing.

Cole sent out a Slugma next, Erik countering with Ice. The Mightyena immediately dug its fangs into its opponent, usually he would cling on and freeze his foe's veins, but the glistening cold on his teeth instead seemed to melt on touch to a hissing noise. The Slugma took advantage and blasted fire at Ice as he was vulnerable, the Mightyena keeling back in pain before ramming into Cole's creature. Slugma recovered, sending a wave of searing flame towards Ice who scampered to one side rapidly, dodging the flame before grabbing the Pokemon in his fangs and throwing it into the hot spring, copying Fury's ploy.

"So that's your tactic then, err.. whatever your name was!" Flannery shouted from the top of the hill, before ordering Zane. "He's using those hot springs, go and cover them up!" her voice like a high pitched squeal as it made its way around the four rock walls.

The baby faced athlete left the building, whilst Erik and Cole continued their fight. The former sent Bounce into the fray for her first taste of battle, the latter a Koffing.

Erik's Spoink made slight squeaking noises each time it touched the floor before bouncing back up into the air, looking innocent and harmless. Suddenly, she stopped moving, and focused her mind. The Koffing send out a blast of sludge, but Bounce had seemingly foreseen this, leaping out of the way before focusing her mind once more and scrambling her foe's brain with a wave of psychic energy. The Koffing looked confused, floating aimlessly from side to side, before an electrical blast generated by the kinetic energy made from the Spoink's constant bouncing fried what was left of the dimwitted creature.

"Not as innocent as you appear, are you Bounce?" Erik smiled at his Pokemon, the Spoink making a slightly louder squeak back at her trainer.

As Cole retreated back behind the moat, Zane returned with a couple of residents, carrying between them two large metal sheets which they used to cover up the hot springs. Erik's attention was diverted onto Sadie, who walked nonchalantly despite soaked in sweat over the bridge and into the battle arena of rock and steam.

Sadie sent a Slugma into battle, with Erik wanting to turn back to Bounce before hearing a splash from the hot spring to his right. Fury was pushing back the metal cover, not allowing Zane or the villager to place the sheet and ruin his relaxation. Embroiled in the match of strength, Fury was equal in power to the two humans before Erik called over to his Pokemon.

"Fury, I have a Slugma for you to take this out on!" The Zangoose glared back at Erik, the momentary distraction causing the two humans to overpower him as Fury was sent back in the pool with a splash. The Zangoose leapt back out in a rage, storming up to the Slugma who sent up a burst of lava from underneath the cobblestone.

The lava crashed into Fury's stomach who walked through the pain with gritted teeth, as if it were nothing. Erik could tell his Pokemon was weak, but the Zangoose showed no sign of it, rapidly swiping at the Slugma before picking it up by its neck and slamming it into the ground, then burying claws as sharp as knives into Sadie's creature, defeating it.

Fury turned his gaze towards Zane, before strolling back towards the rest of Erik's team, Dancer giving him a wide berth as she trotted up to face off against Sadie's Meditite. Dancer performed a pirouette in front of Erik with a smile, her trainer smiling back before seeing his Pikachu enter into a state of fury.

The Meditite copied her precisely, performing a pirouette and smiling at Sadie. Dancer sent out a wave of electricity, paralysing her foe, then performed another pirouette to Erik's shock.

"Wow.. I didn't realise Dancer had that in her..." he whispered to himself as his Pikachu angrily moved over to the Meditite. Sadie's Pokemon reacted through the paralysis to launch a fist covered in fire directly at Dancer's cheek, connecting with aplomb and sending Erik's fighter crashing into the solid stone ground.

"Bounce, take over," he commanded his Spoink whilst recalling Dancer into her Pokeball.

Bounce emitted bright lights aimed directly at the Meditite which changed colour at a rapid pace, the ray of lights working effectively to confuse her opponent. The paralysed creature moved slowly in an attempt to launch another fiery punch, but the Spoink bounced up highly, landing directly behind her foe and shocked it with electricity, defeating it.

Sadie's final Pokemon was a Koffing, Erik leaving Bounce out as she knew how to beat the poison-typed creature with ease, and she didn't let him down as Zane crossed the bridge for the final fight before Erik would take on Flannery.

Another trainer, another Slugma. Fury looked emotionless as he faced his third opponent. Despite his Zangoose being injured, Erik found himself unable to stop him from entering the arena; Fury seemed to harbour a newfound hatred for Slugmas.

Fury moved with speed, cooly dodging two flame bursts before grabbing the slugma by its throat and lifting it into the air, the foe gasping for breath. Instead of throwing it back to the floor instantly, Fury held it in midair for a while before doing so this time and burying claws in it like he did before. The Zangoose was merciless and relentless.

Zane sent out a Kecleon next, Erik allowing Ice out to play. The Mightyena leapt onto the foe with icy fangs, before the Kecleon's skin turned from green to white and covered in frost. Erik was stunned, he had never seen anything of the like before.

"You look confused, never fought a Kecleon before?" Zane goaded. "A Kecleon changes its type to match whatever just attacked it, in this case, an ice fang."

"Fool," Erik thought to himself, "he's just revealed its secret."

Erik withdrew Ice, and sent in Blaze. The Kecleon seemed to be struggling with the heat of the Combusken's fire attacks, its skin almost melting. Blaze finished the process, melting the Kecleon down with bursts of flame. Zane was defeated.

* * *

"You're surprisingly strong for a kid, you hardly broke sweat taking down my disciples," Flannery commented as Erik reentered the gym after healing his team at the Pokemon Centre.

"Wait a second," Erik paused as he strode up to the edge of the arena. "You don't know who I am?"

"No clue," Flannery replied from the top of the hill, before jumping down off the top with surprising ease, landing in a crouched position on the floor then getting up and sauntering over the bridge in the intense heat seemingly unaffected by it. "We are pretty secluded here in Lavaridge."

"I can see that," Erik thought to himself, before speaking aloud. "I just want my fourth badge, then I can go and fight Norman." His heart fluttered at the thought, one more battle and he would be on his way to fight his dad.

"You have to beat me first!" Flannery shouted, sending out her Slugma to battle. Erik didn't even have to look back at his team to know that Fury was already on his way forward, marching into the arena.

Fury moved deceptively fast, swiping voraciously with claws at Flannery's first of three Pokemon. Erik could tell this Slugma was stronger than the others Fury had faced, unsure if his Pokemon had realised as it grabbed the fire type by the neck and slammed it into the cobblestone floor.

Flannery sprinted onto the battlefield, armed with a Hyper Potion. The medicine even more powerful than a Super Potion restored the Slugma back to full fighting health as the spray sunk into its oozing skin. Fury charged, pushing Flannery aside before she had time to finish applying the potion, sending the gym leader crashing to the ground as the Zangoose buried his claws into the Slugma.

Instead of slumping to the floor defeated like the rest of the Slugmas that Fury had faced, Flannery's Pokemon reacted differently. Enraged that the Zangoose had attacked its trainer, the Slugma overheated its body, reaching its boiling point as its lava-like skin began melting, with Fury's claws still lodged inside it. Raging heat stemmed up Erik's Pokemon's claws, through its arms before coursing through his body, frying Fury from the inside. The Slugma slumped to the floor in synchronisation, having sacrificed itself to destroy the Zangoose. Erik and Flannery had both lost one Pokemon.

"Fury..." Erik whispered, he hadn't been too fond of his Zangoose, but had respected its strength. He stiffened himself, forcing his mind from the thought and back to the battle. Erik felt stronger than before, the losses of many of his team having toughened his resilience. He nodded to Ice, who strutted out proudly into the arena, looking quite chuffed with the demise of Fury.

"You idiot!" Flannery screamed. "You're such an idiot you made my Slugma do that to himself. Now you have to face my strongest and best Pokemon." The scarlet haired gym leader whipped the second Pokeball of three from her belt, launching it into the air. A Torkoal emerging from within.

Ice leapt viciously at his foe, burying his ice cold fangs into the shell littered with holes, intense heat pouring out from within each. The Mightyena felt the ice on his teeth melting under the high temperatures they were being exposed to, but held on with all his might. The Torkoal charged into the rock formed hill, trying to knock Ice off but the Mightyena held on strongly as the tortoise-like creature began climbing the ledges, all the way to the top of the mini-mountain.

Once the Torkoal reached the summit, he threw himself and Ice off the top, heading straight down into the pool of lava below. Ice leapt off the Torkoal's back, throwing out a paw and clinging onto the edge of the hill perilously, toes almost dipping into the fiery liquid. A splash came from behind him as the Torkoal plummeted into the depths, Ice managing to pull himself up slightly with one paw, just enough to cling onto another ledge with a second. Before the Torkoal grabbed him.

Emerging from the lava, the Torkoal wrapped his mouth again one of Ice's hind legs and hurled himself back into the pool, the force of the dive too much for Ice to withstand, as Erik's Mightyena disappeared into the lava below, a weak howl all that could be heard as Ice faded from existence.

Erik's vision flashed back to Route 101, sneaking up on a wild Poochyena with encouragement from May. He had been so happy with his first capture, Blaze was his first Pokemon granted, but that was a gift. Ice he had caught all by himself.

"Yay!" Flannery screamed, "Two - One to me!"

Route 104, where Ziggy had been terrified of the Poochyena chasing her. Ice had annihilated any trainer that had stood before Erik on Route 102, with a smugness and proud strut that would boil the blood of most people. But Erik was different, he saw Ice's proud demeanor for what it really was; a way to cover the Poochyena's insecurity.

Dancer saw her trainer looking inconsolable, deciding to take the initiative herself and skip over into the arena to face the freshly emerged Torkoal. Whilst Ice was obliterated by the lava, the fiery liquid pouring into the gaps in Torkoal's shell had only seemed to strengthen it. Blaze would've stepped in but knew Erik didn't want him out there fighting, especially after just losing Ice.

"And you blamed yourself," Erik whispered, as he remembered how distraught Ice appeared at the deaths of String, Speedy and Bunny. The swagger gone with the Poochyena's confidence, then during the war on Slateport's beach, Ziggy had fallen, another death Ice had taken personally.

Dancer launched an orb of electrical energy at the Torkoal, the beast recoiling slightly before roaring, the whole room shaking as violently as Dancer's legs. Flannery's Pokemon seemed to have doubled in size since absorbing the lava, and massively overshadowed the Pikachu. Torkoal threw itself into the air with surprising agility, Dancer attempting to scurry away only to fall flat on her face as her legs gave way from underneath her, the Torkoal slamming its body directly on her, crushing the Pikachu. When Flannery's monster stood back up, Dancer weakly crawled away, the Torkoal seeming to laugh at the sight.

"You loved Wally," Erik thought. The frail boy was such a big help in restoring Ice's confidence. So much so that when his new friend was in trouble he evolved into a Mightyena just to save him. Once Ice had evolved he didn't look back, seeming to find new strength from within. Like Blaze, Erik could always rely on Ice, whenever he was in danger, or losing a battle, sending his Mightyena into the fray always seemed to turn the tables. And now he was gone.

Agonising thoughts flowed furiously through Erik's mind, until he was snapped from them by a soft hand placing itself on his shoulder. Blaze grabbed Dancer's Pokeball and withdrew her. Leaf was weak to fire and Bounce relatively untested in battle, as Erik and Blaze locked eyes the trainer knew he had no choice, reaching up to his shoulder and putting his hand on his Combuskens, he nodded. Blaze returned with a smile as if to say, "everything will be okay".

The Torkoal roared once more as Blaze walked briskly onto the battlefield, he was only slightly shorter than the overgrown lava-filled Pokemon, but made up for the lack of height in speed. Blaze launched two kicks on the Torkoal, who stood strong, before his opponent rammed violently into him, not feeling the intense heat from the shell as Dancer did. Withstanding each others' initial blows, the two fire types blasted flames at their foe, two bursts of orange intercepting and dancing around the other.

Blaze held onto his blast, before seeing the Torkoal flying through the flame and crashing into him with another body slam, the Combusken landing so awkwardly on his legs he ended up being paralysed by the blow. Erik winced at the scene, feeling his body shaking in fear as the Torkoal went in for a third and possibly final slam.

Blaze recovered, rolling out of the way for the Torkoal to crash down into the cobblestone floor. Blaze used the momentary distraction to limp over to the hot spring on the left hand side and remove the sheet.

"NO!" Erik boomed, Blaze turning around at his trainer's voice at the last second, but it was too late. The Combusken grabbed the Torkoal in midair, sending them both crashing into the hot spring.

"Three - two to me, Erik, but it looks like your Pikachu is too weak to fight, and Gloom too weak against fire attacks!" Flannery giggled as she spoke. "Spoink vs Numel for the badge then?" she said whilst throwing her final Pokemon into battle, the aforementioned Numel appearing from within his Pokeball.

Erik suddenly heard a splash to his left, as Blaze clambered out of the hot spring. Unlike a Numel or Slugma, Blaze had arms to swim and his skin wasn't affected by water. The spring liquid must have poured into the holes in Torkoal's shell, the fire type unable to withstand it as Blaze collapsed exhaustly outside the spring, Erik immediately returning him into his Pokeball.

Bounce used the rays of light to confused the Numel, before bouncing up onto the top of the hill. Attempting to follow, the Numel crashed into the mountain side in its confusion, damaging itself before being hit by mind frying psychic blasts as it climbing to the top. The Numel remained resilient once it had reached the top, summoning its power to blast the Spoink with fire, almost pushing it off the edge and into the lava pool to the right hand side.

As Bounce teetered over the edge, the Numel rammed it, sending the Spoink over. Bounce recovered, using its spring to catch on to the ledge, before bouncing back down to the surface weakly and crashing into the solid stone below. Erik withdrew the Spoink, and sent out his only Pokemon who could still stand to finish off the fight and win him his fourth badge, Leaf.

The Numel stumbled down to the surface weak and still a little confused, but Erik knew any sort of fire attack against Leaf would devastate her. The Gloom knew she would have to act quickly, making sure to rapidly send out spores.

Erik noticed that the spores were different than usual, larger in size and far more plentiful as they zoomed towards Numel, latching onto its skin and draining its health before flying back to Leaf and seemingly transferring the Numel's energy onto her. Flannery's last Pokemon fell to the floor, drained of the last of its energy. Erik had won.

Erik breathed a sigh of relief through oceans of sweat, a wave of calm flowing through him since it was confirmed that he had won the battle. He had lost Fury and Ice, nearly lost Blaze, Bounce and Dancer, but he had gained the Heat Badge from their sacrifices. He knew what lay next, Petalburg City and badge number five. Norman's badge. The stage was set for his long awaited showdown with his father.


	19. Then and Now

Chapter Fifteen - Then and Now

Erik stared solemnly out of the thick glass window, rain battering the pane whilst sending a mist high into the air, clouding his view of the city outside. Large industrial buildings neatly sat alongside huge skyscrapers as both loomed menacingly over his rather modest household. However, it was the paved road of the street immediately outside the window that held his attention, his father would be strolling down that road before entering his home any moment now.

A flash of lightning struck overhead, shortly followed by a raucous roar of thunder as Erik eyed the frightening grey sky inquisitively. His gaze snapped back to the street, a rapidly moving flash of black catching his eye to the right.

His father sprinted down the street, holding a leather briefcase over his head for protection from the torrential rain, which ended up soaking his suit anyway, despite Norman's best efforts.

The thick pine wood door burst open, Norman having to duck under the small frame, he only stood at just under six foot tall and was dripping off what seemed like an ocean of water. He almost collapsed as he finally made it back into his humble home. Erik didn't care about getting drenched himself, as he raced towards his dad and hugged him, receiving a warm embrace back from his hero.

"Daddy!" Erik squealed, "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too Son," Norman replied, a loving smile taking to his young-looking features. Even now, Erik could tell that holding his child made all his father's problems disappear, if only temporarily. "Come through to the living room, I need to have a chat with you and your mother."

Father and son briskly made their way towards the house's main room. A small leather couch greeted them as they entered the medium-sized area, a fireplace in the centre of the room was accompanied by a small beanbag - where Erik usually sat. A small television in the corner of the room remaining switched off as Erik's mother made her way out of a second doorframe, emerging instantly from the kitchen.

"Hello, Caroline." Norman greeted his wife by planting a kiss on her left cheek, before continuing. "I have important news that you both need to hear, something big is about to happen which will change our lives tremendously."

"Is it about my birthday next month?" Erik asked innocently, standing at a height with his father's stomach.

"Your sixth birthday is a very special occasion, Son." Norman replied patronisingly, bending his knees so his eyes were level with Erik's own. "Unfortunately, my boss at work says I may have to move away very soon."

Erik felt a tear escape his eye at the news. "I can't cry!" he told himself. "Daddy can't see me cry!"

"I need you to be strong, Son." Norman continued, placing thick hands on Erik's bony shoulders, "What is your dream? Keep reminding yourself of that."

"I want to become the best Pokemon trainer the world has ever seen!" came Erik's enthusiastic reply.

"This is why you need to learn to be strong, when you grow up and get your own Pokemon it will follow you until the end. But if you were to lose a Pokemon close to you, it's like a pain you've never experienced."

"Where are your boss sending you to?"

"Hoenn. To become a Gym Leader."

"Is that far away?" Erik felt his eyes tearing up again, but told himself that Hoenn was probably in the next town, along one of those Routes he was always told about.

"I'll always be close." Norman turned back to his wife and asked her to join him in the kitchen. "Stay here Erik, your mother and I have a few things to discuss."

Erik remained where he was for only a moment. Hearing raised voices in the next room, he tip-toed over to the edge of the kitchen doorway and hid behind the wall, listening intently next to the doorframe in an attempt to overhear his parent's conversation.

"You're being blackmailed by him again!" Caroline cried. "How many times has your manager threatened us now? Ten? Twenty?! Why give in now?!"

"It's Erik," Norman replied, his voice was shaky as if it were about to break away completely. "He's threatened Erik."

"Is there no one you can go to with this?!"

"He's the foreign minister, who can I go to?!"

"Why Hoenn?!" Caroline's voice sounded full of resentment as she swiftly changed the subject.

"To become a Gym Leader, we will have unchallengeable influence over there if we play our cards right."

Erik couldn't bring himself to listen to anymore. He could bear remaining strong no longer and charged into the kitchen, leaping onto his father as tears streamed relentlessly down his young face.

"Please don't leave me Daddy," he begged, "I need you."

* * *

Time had flown during Erik's trek from Lavaridge back to Mauville Town, he was so deep in thought throughout that he could hardly remember the journey back. Unchaining the bicycle he had kept locked up in the glass city, his thoughts wandered to contemplate over who had purchased him the two-wheeled gift and handed it to him completely free of charge. He mounted the green-coated vehicle and moved his left foot onto the pedal, before a violent buzzing in his pocket distracted him, almost causing him to embarrassingly fall off the bike.

It was his PokeNav, vibrating viciously against the unpowered meteorite. May was calling him.

"Hello Erik, how's things? Just ringing to let you know I'm feeling a bit better now after what happened in Meteor Falls," a more chirpy May said. She certainly sounded a lot better.

"Just got my fourth badge," Erik could feel the strain on his voice, each word weighing a ton in his throat as he tried to force each and every one out.

"What's wrong?! What happened?!" May almost screamed, clearly detecting the pain in Erik's tone.

"Ice.."

"Meet me on Route 111, the one north of Mauville," she demanded. "I'll be there."

Erik was only just coming to terms with how devastated he was by Ice's loss. "You need to be strong," he thought to himself. "Losing a Pokemon close to you is like pain you'll never have experienced," the familiar words echoed back and forth through his mind.

He hopped on his bicycle, attempting to remember how to ride one. Shaky at first, he soon got the hang of it, envisaging what his mother had taught him when he was six, riding the small bike he had received as a leaving present from Norman for his sixth birthday.

The wind sailed through his hair as he rode relentlessly out of Mauville City, pushing his legs with force and onto the route he had met Gabby and Ty for the first time. He remembered how Cecilia had saved him, and her advice had proved correct with the world forgetting him after the media outlets found a new story to pick up on the next day, something about strange events taking place outside Mossdeep City, on the eastern edge of Hoenn.

A shadow landed on Erik, seemingly following his movements. A quick glance to the sky showed him a Swellow, ridden cooly by May. Slamming the brakes on his bicycle before leaping off, he let his bike drop to the ground with a thud as the bulky blue bird hit the floor next to him, the lady on top jumping off and sprinting over to Erik, wrapping her arms around him before landing a soft kiss on his left cheek.

Erik burst into tears, a sadness that had been boiling inside of him erupted all at once. Flashes of all the Pokemon he had lost entered his vision, from String to Ziggy to Ice and all the others in between, ones he had barely known like Bunny and friends he had loved and bonded with like his old Mightyena.

"It's okay," May whispered softly into his ear. "It's okay."

Minutes passed by quickly, each second hastily blending into the next as Erik felt almost at peace in May's embrace. Emotions that were building up and held within were released uncaringly towards her, as if Erik saw May as the one person that could save him from himself.

"I have an idea," May blurted suddenly, ruining the serenity. Although Erik didn't care. "You need new Pokemon to complete your team, right?" she continued, sounding excited by her thoughts. "I could let you borrow my goggles so you can go to the desert!"

"That sounds good." Erik attempted to force a smile in response, a tough task but one he managed to achieve, just. "I stopped Magma on Mt. Chimney, by the way. Had some help from that Archie guy, but I did it," he continued, almost looking for reassurance and hoping it would impress May. He was now feeling a sense of insecurity he had never felt before.

"Well done you!" May replied delightedly, lightly planting a kiss on his forehead. Erik wanted to respond by kissing her on the lips, a deep desire branching from the depths of his heart. But his body refused to respond, like he was frozen in place by fear of rejection.

"I must be going, I'm always a phone call away if you ever need me, Erik." May smiled ever so sweetly at him, before hopping back on her Swellow and flying away. Erik was furious with himself, he felt like his only chance with her had just slipped away. Even though he told himself he would have other opportunities, he couldn't make himself believe it.

Resting his bicycle up against the hillside, half hidden by a large boulder, he began his journey towards the desert. He would traverse the sands in hope for a new member of his team.

* * *

A large black suitcase rested neatly alongside two cardboard boxes at the front door. A further box was bought through by Norman as Erik stood stoutly in the doorway, refusing to let his dad leave the house.

Erik struggled to get his head around the fact his dad was leaving, he didn't believe he was truly going. Too young to fully contemplate what was happening. He only knew that he didn't like it, so he puffed out his small chest and folded his skinny arms, trying to fill up the entire doorframe so Norman couldn't get through.

"Son," Norman started, "you need to be strong here. You're acting like a child."

"But Daddy you can't leave me," Erik shouted as loud as he could, hoping the louder he sounded the more chance he had of forcing his father to listen. "Me and Mummy need you."

"Mummy and I," Norman corrected him. "Hoenn needs me too, Son. A whole region of people need me to help guide them towards a better future."

"I don't care about them!" Erik roared. "I want you here."

"My boss won't allow it, I need to go to be able to support our family."

"Why do you let him tell you what to do!"

"I listen to him, the same way you listen to your mother or I. Everyone has people they need to listen to Erik, even me."

"I'm still not moving!" Erik said stubbornly.

"Then I'll have to move you!" Norman chuckled, picking Erik who laughed in return, moving outside into the street and spinning his son around in the air. Erik felt as if he were flying, as if he was being elevated above all his problems and worries, all the negative emotions. His father always had that effect on him, and he loved him for it.

* * *

Blustery winds filled with rough sand blasted Erik's face as he strode through the desert. The goggles that May had given him were working marvellously against the constant bombardment of the sharp dirt-brown grains smashing against him. Through impeded vision he could see large amounts of rocks sticking out of the sand, the desert surrounded by sharp inclines and rocky cliffs like the rest of this part of Hoenn.

Erik tripped, a rock he didn't see getting in his way as he landed face first into the sand, suddenly rolling around to find himself staring straight at an angry Trapinch, the ground typed Pokemon furiously snapping its large jaws at him. He must have kicked the Pokemon and tripped over it.

Erik rolled out the way as the Trapinch charged head first, obviously looking to hurt Erik rather than seriously injure him. The Pokemon missed, slowly turning around for another charge but the trainer was faster, grabbing a spare Pokeball on his belt and lobbing it at the creature, who swatted it away with its abnormally large head.

The distraction gave Erik a chance to send Leaf into the fray, the Gloom immediately sending sleep powder into the air as the Trapinch charged again, stuttering halfway through its attack and falling asleep. Erik glided over to the Pokeball he had thrown earlier and captured the Pokemon, naming it "Snappy".

"Erik?" a familiar female voice drifting through the winds and into his ear. A turn of his head saw a woman in her very early twenties approach carrying a small sack, the small grey bag clutched within her right hand. Her smooth skin matched the colour of the sand they stepped on.

"Cecilia," he replied as she wandered up to him, her identity becoming clearer the closer she got. "What's in the bag?"

"Just fossils," she said sweetly, opening the small burlap sack to reveal two fossils. The first was in the shape of a claw, sat neatly on top of the second which was hard to identify underneath the other, but looked rather more like a root of some sort. "I go fossil hunting sometimes in the desert."

"Why?" Erik enquired, she had piqued his interest.

"Just a hobby," she giggled. "I'm glad I saw you out here actually, I always wondered why you disappeared that night."

"Erm.." Erik hesitated, scratching the back of his head nervously. "At the time I felt everyone was against me, the media saw me as their enemy and people from all over Hoenn were hunting me. Magma were also attacking me. So I didn't really know who I could trust."

"Oh," Cecilia replied, looking genuinely disappointed. "I was only trying to help."

"Sorry," Erik frowned guiltily, "look, maybe you are a good person trying to help. But I don't know you, and in my lifetime I've been betrayed by people who I have known. People who I have known very well."

"I'll show you," she replied, pulling the claw-like fossil out of the bag. "Have one of my fossils, they're rare and of an ancient Pokemon."

"She's really trying to prove herself to me," Erik thought to himself, before saying aloud. "Thank you, what's your story anyway?" he asked the woman of mystery whilst taking the fossil.

"Oh not much," she giggled again, "I'm from the Johto region myself."

"How'd you end up in Hoenn?"

"I wanted to prove to my dad that I could be independent. He's a businessman over there and paid for my trip over here, he even bought me a house in Rustboro to live in."

"So why do you stay in the treehouse?"

"Oh I don't usually, only when I'm stressed. I find it really relaxing in there."

"What stresses you? Are you a trainer then?"

"I'm a trainer but I don't really battle. I love Pokemon so I like doing research into them and finding out about them. I want to someday own a Pokemon ranch where I can look after and breed other people's friends for them. They'd pay me of a course," she finished with yet another giggle, a cute sound which made Erik smile.

"Like a daycare centre?" Erik enquired, worrying he was sounding like a game of 'Guess the Pokemon', a fun activity he used to play as a child where one person would pick a Pokemon in their head and the rest of the players would have twenty questions between them to try and find out which Pokemon it was.

"Kind of, but better!" she declared. "How about you? What's next in Erik's journey?"

"Petalburg." The word sounded like fire on his tongue. "To challenge my dad for his badge."

"Wow, good luck! Don't let me keep you." She flashed him a final smile as she began bumbling away.

"Thank you," he called out after her, before reimagining the battle to come for what seemed like the one thousandth time in his mind.

* * *

A day had passed since his dad had moved out, and Erik had been sat at the windowsill for the past hour waiting for Norman to arrive home from work for the day.

"He's always home by now," Erik thought to himself as he gazed out of the glass pane and out into the overcast day, grey clouds casting a dull shadow over Saffron City. "Why is he not here."

A further ten minutes passed, then another. And Another. Until Erik ran into the living room to his mother.

"Mummy!" he wailed. "I think Daddy's in trouble."

She got up from the couch and moved over to her son, bending her knees so her eyes stood at a height with Erik's own. "Erik, sweetie," she began, "Daddy's not coming home, remember?" She smiled sweetly at him.

"No!" Erik yelled, stubbornly refusing to believe it. "He's probably been kept behind for detention at work. I was one time at trainer school for talking too much in class."

He ran back out to the hallway window besides the front door before his mother had time to reply. But after another half an hour of waiting he had given up, his father wasn't coming home and Erik didn't understand why.

Over the next few days Erik spent less and less time by that window, going from spending two hours to an hour to ten minutes waiting for his father to come home, as he had done for as long as he could remember. But Norman never showed.

His sixth birthday had arrived, along with three loud knocks at the door. Upon hearing the very first knock Erik screamed, "Daddy!", and sprinted towards the sound. Opening the door, he was shocked when instead of seeing his father, he saw a delivery man holding a small bicycle, complete with stabilisers.

"Present for Erik, from Norman?" asked the man, clad in a full black suit with purple undershirt.

"Where's my Daddy?" Erik replied, to a stunned look from the man.

"I'm not sure, I'm just here to deliver this."

Erik ran back inside, tears streaming down his cheeks. It had finally sunk in. His father wasn't coming back, Norman had abandoned him.

* * *

He had breezed through Mauville on his bike, the cool air flowing through his hair as he headed west to Verdanturf, and then through the tunnel to emerge in Rustboro City, withdrawing Sunny the Solrock from storage to complete his team of six. Through the dreary city littered with grey and brown stone, Erik cycled the breadth of it in no time. Exiting from the southern side, and almost running over an old friend.

His bicycle screeched to a halt as he slammed on the brakes in order to avoid hitting Wally, the trainer seemingly struggling to capture a Roselia for his team. Wally stood motionless, like a shy Pokemon in headlights he was too scared to move out of the way.

"Hey Wally," Erik said half joking, half relieved that he didn't run his friend down.

"Oh.. Hey.. Erik," Wally forced each word out, as if he were recovering from a near-death experience. "How are you?" he followed up, this time speaking with slightly more conviction.

"Do you need a hand?" Erik enquired, avoiding the question.

"I've never caught a Pokemon by myself before," came the reply from a clearly downbeat Wally, the green haired boy slouching despondently.

Erik sent Leaf out of her Pokeball, and ordered his Gloom to send the Roselia to sleep. Using the same tactic as he used to capture Snappy, Leaf sent out the powder for the wild Pokemon to inhale. Wally caught on to Erik's ploy and followed up by throwing a Pokeball at the grass-typed creature, successfully capturing it.

"Thank you.. Erik," Wally said shakily, he looked more like the boy Erik had first met rather than the more confident trainer he had encountered in Mauville.

"You're welcome, is everything okay with you?" Erik asked, hoping everything with his friend was alright.

"Fine thank you," Wally said, unable to keep eye contact as his vision remained fixed on the ground. "Happy I have a new Pokemon thanks to you."

"Good to hear," Erik replied. He was sure Wally was lying, hiding something he was afraid of telling him about, but remained silent. He couldn't waste any more time, he wanted to get to Petalburg City and challenge his dad for the Balance Badge. "I've gotta run Wally, I'll catch you later!" he shouted as he cycled off.

"Bye Erik," a faint voice called from an ever growing distance.

Petalburg Woods proved no challenge for Erik and his team, significantly stronger than when he first trekked the forest. Crossing the treeline at the southern exit, the city of Petalburg lay ahead of him, from the rise of the hill he could spot the gym. Nothing else mattered now, his father awaited him.

* * *

It had been four years since Erik had last seen his father, so when an aging man who looked like he could either be in his mid-thirties or late-fifties stepped through the doorway, the boy hardly recognised him.

"Norman!" Caroline said in a tone half resentful and half shocked. "You look like you've aged twenty years in the four since we last saw you."

"Hello, I thought I'd pop by and pay Erik a surprise visit on his tenth birthday," the man said glancing at his son. "But I can see neither of you are too happy to see me." Norman's voice had changed, from a soft voice with obvious care to strained, almost toneless, as he spotted Erik standing behind his mother with arms folded.

"What did you expect?!" Caroline cried out. "You haven't seen your boy once in all this time."

"I haven't had a chance," Norman groaned.

"You've had four years worth of chances!" Erik's mother screamed.

"I did it all for Erik," Norman said despondently. "All this stress, fatigue and pain, and I didn't even get to see my son. But things are about to change again, I've been told now Erik has turned ten I am allowed to come and see him monthly."

"We don't want you here!" Caroline was apoplectic, Erik had never seen his mother this angry, in fact, he couldn't remember ever seeing her angry at all.

"Fine, but at least let me wish him a happy birthday."

"You have one minute," she snapped in reply, moving out of the doorway and allowing Norman to pass.

Norman strode up to his son, and the closer he got the more Erik could see how much his dad had aged. When he had last seen his father, he remembered him looking young and fresh faced, now he just saw lines and wrinkles, with deep and heavy bags holding up his eyes. Norman bent his knees so he stood at a height with Erik.

"You've grown so much, I'm so sorry I haven't been there to see it happen." Even at a young age, Erik could sense the sorrow in his father's voice.

"Go away!" Erik shouted, "I don't want you here."

"I know," Norman welled up as he spoke. "I'm so sorry. This is probably the last time I will see you before I break completely. I only wish you grow up to be stronger than I am, to be able to resist what I couldn't. I'm so sorry.

Erik had no comprehension of what his father was telling him, as a lone tear rolled solemnly down his dad's wrinkled cheek. "What do you mean?" he asked, but got no response. Norman walked out of the house without glancing back, the only words that followed were the oft repeated two, "I'm sorry".

* * *

"Norman," Erik growled, staring directly at his father's young-looking face. "It's time.

"Indeed it is," Norman replied, signalling for his three trainee gym leaders to stand down. "I know he is worthy to challenge me," he told them, "he is my son after all."

Erik baulked slightly at the heavy emphasis on Norman calling him his son, almost like a hissing noise erupting from his father's mouth.

They stood in the main entrance room of the gym, where they had had their sitdown chat before, but this time Norman went through the back door, waving Erik to follow him through. The door led to a wooden set of stairs, a sharp upwards incline with another doorway at the summit. Through this doorway led Erik to the battle room.

The large pinewood room was rather plain. Lilac cushions in each corner with tables, chairs and even a sofa littered around the place. "This is more of a home to him than our house in Saffron ever was," Erik silently raged. The most prominent thing in the room, however, was a huge glass window to the rear, which granted him a view of a back garden abundant with trees and flowerbeds. A trap door occupied the far left hand corner of the area, Erik guessing it led to Norman's bedroom, he did live here after all.

"Welcome, my son," Norman said in his usual cool voice with a smirk. "I hope you are strong enough to face me?"

"My team are strong enough to beat anyone," Erik snapped instantly.

"Not your team, you."

"I'm stronger than you think."

"I hope so, I need to find out if you are strong enough, I don't care if you win and take my badge." The smirk grew ever wider on Norman's face.

"Enough talk."

"No, I want you to know what's going to happen, Erik."

"What." Erik was fed up of the conversation, he just wanted to get his revenge once and for all on his father.

"I want to find out if you are strong enough," he repeated. "That is why I don't care if I lose the fight, but why I gifted you that Torchic. So you would bond with it. So I know you are strong enough to handle losing someone so close to you. That's right, I'm going to kill Blaze. That was the plan all along."

Erik's heart fluttered, the very thought of losing Blaze was devastating for him, as the battle with Maxie flashed before his eyes. remembering the unbearable pain he felt as he saw his oldest friend close to death.

Before he could reply, his father sent out his first Pokemon, a Slaking. The beast roaring at his opponent. Erik fingered each and every one of his Pokeballs, before his grip rested on one of them, he knew exactly who he was going to send out.

* * *

The ceremony was only a few moments away, the bride and groom were getting ready and Erik was left with a man he wasn't sure he had ever met before.

"Why can't I see Mummy or Daddy?" he asked the strange man, who looked back at him through narrow dark eyes, a warm smile breaking his otherwise menacing features.

"They are busy getting dressed, and we can't have little four year olds wandering around by themselves now can we?"

"But I want to see Daddy."

"You will very soon, my boy," the man brushed through his chestnut brown hair as he spoke, swiping off a couple that fell onto his black suit. "I'll tell you what."

"What?" Erik interrupted excitedly, jumping so suddenly at the thought he accidentally threw the fruit juice he was carrying, a portion of which landed on the man's undershirt.

"You're lucky I'm wearing purple and the drink won't show," the man chuckled. "I'm your dad's boss at work, so how about after the wedding we can both tell him what to do!"

"Yay!" Erik screamed delightedly. "So you're the forry minner?"

"The Foreign Minister," the man corrected, laughing wholeheartedly again. "I like you, son, I think you'll made a great addition to our organisation one day."

"I don't want to be a minser though."

"You never know, you may even take my place one day. Don't rule it out son," he laughed again, as he took his seat on the front row alongside Erik.

Erik looked around the room to see if he recognised anyone. The hall was packed full of people, many of which wore black suits and lilac undershirts, the same as his dad would be wearing, Erik remembered. He saw many women wearing black or purple dresses, his mother would be in white, he also knew.

"This is a very special day, Erik," the Foreign Minister spoke quietly to him. "Your parents will be together for the rest of their lives."

"For ever and ever?" Erik replied, happy at the thought that his Mummy and Daddy would never leave him.

"As long as we are all happy."

"Yay!" Erik shouted once more. "Are you happy?"

"Oh," the man replied. "Very. Now that I am sitting next to my future successor."

Music blasting out of the speakers around them signalled the start of the ceremony, a cheery tune echoing throughout the hall, as Erik's mother marched down the aisle in a flowing white dress, and crowned with black and lilac flowers. Erik smiled, this was the happiest day of his life, one that he would remember forever more. His parents were going to be together forever, and everyone was going to be happy.


	20. Showdown

Sorry about the huge delay in this chapter, I graduated from University a couple of weeks ago so spent a few days up there. After that I went all out on the job hunting, including attending a couple of interviews this week just gone, so have only just found the time to write this one. Next few chapters should be back on track timewise! Hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

Chapter Sixteen - Showdown

Strong sunlight burst through the large glass window and onto the Slaking's back, the beast roaring and thumping a barrel-like chest with two fists which seemed more like boulders than paws covered with brown fur.

Erik felt his pulse racing, like his heart intended to leap out of his skin. This was it. The moment he had been working towards for what seemed like a lifetime.

As he launched Leaf's Pokeball into the air, the spherical device appearing to move in slow motion, an anticipation of the match-up with his father twisted the very fabrics of time in his mind.

He had chosen Leaf for her versatility, her ability to adapt to any challenge with a number of different spores. He knew that if his Gloom could either attract the Slaking, or send it to sleep, he would be able to take down Norman's first Pokemon with ease thereafter.

Another huge roar burst out from the beast's large mouth, the sound reminiscent of a clap of thunder, as Leaf crouched down and aimed her head at the Slaking, ready to shoot spores directly at her foe.

The Slaking moved with surprising speed, hurling its large frame across the room to the wooden table and chairs in the corner. It picked up the table like it was as light as a feather, despite it looking large enough to hold Erik's entire team atop of it, and launched it with force at Leaf. The Gloom was hit face-on with the object, which split in half and sent Leaf rocketing back into the wall as the spores were launched out from within her, the force of the blow releasing them into the air.

Norman shouted out to his Pokemon, calling on it to be relentless; and the beast obliged. Slaking picked up one of the wooden chairs, but instead of launching it at the Gloom who lay unmoving on the floor, strolled over to her in order to use the chair as a physical weapon. Each stomp of the Slaking's feet created a mini-earthquake inside the room as it moved drowsily over to Leaf, before collapsing in a slump on the floor. The sleeping powder had had its desired effect, with the beast crashing to the floor, the impact of which causing vibrations so powerful Erik fell backwards into the wall behind him. Norman remained unmoved.

Leaf climbed feebly to her feet, shaking verociously as she did so as the Gloom used the last of her energy to send abnormally large spores into the air. The green circular grains moved through the air smoothly, like they weighed nothing at all, before suddenly honing in and attaching themselves to the Slaking. The large spores began sapping energy from the beast before floating back to Leaf and transferring the minerals back to her. Despite all this, Erik could see she remained weak, as Leaf struggled to hold herself steady on her feet.

Erik grabbed Leaf's Pokeball and withdrew her, before sending Sunny into the fray for his first taste of battle. The Solrock loafed around aimlessly, seemingly unsure whether it was in a battle or in a dream, as the Pokemon from space looked from Erik, to the Slaking, and then back to Erik.

Norman's Slaking woke up and groggily grabbed the chair again, launching it at the floating sun-shaped rock and sending Sunny smashing backwards into one the room's wooden walls. Erik's Solrock hit the ground, before racing back into the air, powered by rage. In a sudden furious frenzy, Sunny spun up to the Slaking at lightning-fast speeds. Before the beast had time to react, the Solrock covered itself in flames and began rapidly spinning around it, circling the Slaking with intent over and over. Sunny managed to create a fiery vortex, trapping his foe inside.

"Yes!" Erik thought to himself. "There's no way Slaking's getting out of that."

Moments passed by slowly, but with each millisecond that passed, Slaking's doom seemed more and more certain to Erik.

Until the normal-typed Pokemon leapt out of the fire, its wild and unkempt fur soaking up the flames as if they were made of water. Slaking grabbed the Solrock with a paw so large it encompassed most of Sunny, before the beast lifted Erik's Pokemon into the air with ease, then slamming the Solrock down forcefully on its outstretched knee, smashing Sunny's shell mercilessly.

"That's exactly what will happen to Blaze," Norman taunted, a small chuckle following which hit Erik's ears with poison.

"How did he just soak up the flames?!" Erik questioned demandingly.

"I knew you'd be coming to challenge me here one day, with Blaze," Norman responded, keeping his eyes locked directly at Erik's own. "So I trained my Pokemon to withstand fire, as well as making the entire gym fireproof."

Erik wanted to respond sharply, but held his tongue. He needed to fix his focus on the battlefield, not in a war of words with his father. He grabbed another Pokeball from his belt, he desired to send in Blaze, to let his Combusken teach Norman a lesson. But he was afraid to. Instead, he sent out another new Pokemon, Snappy.

The Trapinch took to its first battle by opening its huge jaws and roaring at the Slaking. The sound made by Snappy however was more of a soft growl, which only made Norman and his Pokemon laugh in unison. Infuriated, Snappy lowered its head and charged, aiming for the Slaking's knee in an attempt to send it crashing into the ground.

The Slaking caught Snappy mid-charge, picking it up and hurling it through the window for the Trapinch to painfully land in one of the garden's flower beds. Snappy climbed weakly to his feet, before slumping hopelessly back down to the ground. The Slaking moved to jump out of the window and finish it off, until Norman held out a hand calmly to stop it, spotting something his Pokemon hadn't.

The Slaking turned slowly, lumbering around to be blasted by a paralysing wave of electricity. The beast stuttered and shook violently, the paralysis coursing through its body as it spotted Dancer. The Pikachu charged up another wave of electricity, but this time instead of launching it at the Slaking, she ran at him, aiming to inflict maximum damage.

Norman's Pokemon still moved quickly enough to grab Dancer, holding her in a tight grip by the tail as she hung upside down. The Pikachu didn't give up, sending an electrical blast from her crimson cheeks which slammed into her opponents stomach. The Slaking reacted by hurling her into the wall, then charging into her, and grabbing her by the neck with one hand.

Dancer was pinned up strongly against the wall, the Slaking launching a fist with full force into the Pikachu's stomach, smashing the wind out of her. Before Dancer had time to recover, she was met by another fist, the power of which sent her rocketing out of the Slaking's grasp and into the floor.

The Slaking went in for the final blow, launching a third enclosed fist at the weakened Pikachu lying breathless on the wooden floor. But suddenly stopped, standing frozen as his fist lay in mid-air. Sparks of electricity flew aggressively off of the beast as the paralysis had caught up with it, Slaking couldn't move his arms, in fact, he seemed unable to move any part of his body apart from his head. Roaring in pain, Norman's Pokemon was hit by a final blast of electrical energy emanating from Dancer's cheeks, as Erik's Pikachu slumped to the floor, unable to carry on battling.

Erik's team had finally taken down Norman's first Pokemon, but the price of the feat was horrendously high. Only Blaze and Bounce were still at full fighting strength, and whilst Leaf was weak, she was the only other member of his team able to fight. Norman still had two unused Pokeballs attached to his belt.

Norman threw out a Vigoroth as his second fighter, Erik fearing to send out Blaze so instead asking the weakened Leaf to take down the normal-typed opponent. He was unsure if the time was right for Bounce's psychic attacks.

Vigoroth seemed to glide as it moved even quicker than the Slaking before it, bolting across the room to Leaf and slashing her with claws like knives. Leaf recoiled, falling backwards but not before launching spores into the air which latched onto the creature and drained health from it, transferring the energy into Leaf. It was a finely balanced contest, but the Gloom was still weak from the earlier fight with Slaking.

A ferocious wave of swipes from the Vigoroth left Leaf kneeling down, too weak to muster up the energy for a counter-attack. Again, she had managed to use the force of the blow in order to send more spores into the air, which zapped onto the Vigoroth, sapping yet more health off of the foe. Both Pokemon could barely stand, the Vigoroth may have moved a lot faster than the Slaking, but lacked its immense fortitude.

Erik refused to risk Leaf any further, withdrawing the Gloom and sending out Bounce, hoping the Spoink would finish off the weakened foe.

Bounce began hopping around joyfully, like she didn't have a care in the world, but Erik knew that underneath the happy demeanour she was focused her mind on a psychic attack aimed at the Vigoroth. Norman's creature moved rapidly, the Spoink left vulnerable as she was fixated on a psychic attack.

Vigoroth slashed Bounce relentlessly and without mercy. After the unabiding flurry of swipes, Erik's Spoink was left in a lifeless slump on the floor, leaving the battlefield as quickly as she had entered it.

Erik shed a tear, but couldn't decide why. Was it because he had just lost Bounce? Or because the only Pokemon he had left able to fight was Blaze? After Norman had spent almost the entire time informing Erik that he would kill the Combusken.

Blaze launched itself at the weak Vigoroth with a kick of his left foot. The attack slammed into the creature, sending it crashing to the ground. The Combusken didn't allow his opponent time to recover, kicking out with his right foot this time and launching the Vigoroth through the window, the weakened Pokemon landing with a thud onto the solid pavement, defeated.

"You've done well to get this far, son," Norman smirked. "But now it's one on one, your Gloom, Pikachu and Trapinch are so weak they will be easy pickings. My final Slaking is much stronger than the last, I hope you will be able to handle losing Blaze."

Again, Erik chose to kept his attention fully focused on the battle at hand, rather than giving his father the satisfaction of a reply. He shouted to Blaze to use the same tactic as before, and try and send this new Slaking rocketing through the window and out into the garden like the Vigoroth before it. As always, his most trusted friend obeyed without hesitation.

Blaze threw himself at his foe, both feet hanging in midair as he rocketed across the room, before slamming into Slaking with all his might. The beast didn't move an inch.

Norman laughed, louder and more confidently than he ever had done before. For the first time, Erik could see defeat looming, as the Slaking picked Blaze up by his leg, the Combusken launching a burst of flames into the creature, but Norman's Pokemon effortlessly soaked up the fire in its thick fur.

Erik had never lost a battle, but if all his Pokemon were to fall here he'd be left with only Rocky, the Numel he had caught whilst climbing Mt. Chimney who rested securely in storage. His Journey wouldn't be over, but it might as well be.

Slaking threw Blaze with all the strength it could muster, the Combusken crashing into the sofa with such force it sent the couch flying back into the wall behind, Blaze following. The Slaking pounced after him, both arms raised so high they almost burst through the roof. Blaze was in a daze, sprawled uselessly over the floor as the Slaking began its descent downwards into the fire-typed Pokemon.

"Blaze!" Erik roared, almost screaming his friend's name in desperation. "Get out the way!"

The Combusken snapped to attention with his trainer's cries, rapidly rolling out of the way as the beast smashed the sofa in two with so much power the entire room began to shake violently. Erik fell backwards into the wall, struggling to remain upright as what felt like an earthquake took the room.

Blaze leapt to his feet, sending another wave of fire at the creature from his beak. Once more the Slaking's fur soaked up the attack, the beast seemingly bursting into laughter at the attempt as he shook the flames from himself. Blaze inhaled in preparation for another attack, but was hit full pelt by a powerful fist, the Combusken being launched back into Erik as the two crashed to the ground together.

"Blaze.." Erik whispered, winded. His Pokemon looked him dead in the eye, too weak to pick himself back up, too weak to carry on fighting. "Please, keep going. I need you, my oldest friend."

Erik could see his words were no use, Blaze tried to get up but couldn't bring himself to. He remembered Maxie's words, how his Pokemon channelled his fear, and there was no denying it. Erik wasn't only afraid, he was terrified. Blaze was about to be finished off and the only Pokemon he had left would make for "easy pickings', they were all in no condition to fight. All the bonds he had made, all the friends he had gained, all about to be taken away from him by his own father.

"Wait!" Norman shouted, it took Erik and Blaze a second to realise what at. The Slaking clambered over to the two, ignoring his trainer's commands, and went to slam a fist into Blaze to finish the Combusken off, uncaring that Erik lay underneath his Combusken.

As the beast's enclosed fist clouded out the light, time seemed to move in slow motion. Erik's life flashed before his eyes as he felt as if it were about to come to an end. Firstly, he saw his father's face, much younger and happier, he then saw his mother, Caroline. Now Wally flashed before him, then Cecilia, then May, the thought of her held in his mind for a split second longer than the rest, before Blaze came before him.

His Combusken roared, a sound so shrill it caused the hairs on the back of Erik's neck to stand up on end, as Blaze leapt up and grabbed the fist with all his remaining strength. Using the last of his energy to save his trainer, the Combusken began to be overpowered by the single fist from Slaking, but it allowed enough time for Erik to roll out of the way.

As Blaze was about to be crushed by the fist, he spun his gaze to look Erik in the eye, and held it for a moment. Erik swore he could see fire in his Pokemon's eyes, a re-energising flame that said to him, "I can't let you down, Erik."

Blaze found the strength he was searching for, pushing Slaking's fist but up to both the beast's and Norman's surprise. The Combusken then took his chance, blasting flames into the Slaking's gaping mouth, fire filling the inside of the creature. Norman's Pokemon began swinging his huge fists wildly around the room in pain, lashing out at anything and everything in complete agony as it punched a hole through the wall and nearly hit its trainer, before Norman dived gracefully out of the way.

Blaze flew across the room, tackling the flailing beast out of the window as they crashed down into the garden below, the Combusken having a soft landing on the Slaking. Erik's Pokemon wasn't finished there, Blaze launched an unrelenting wave of flames across the garden, setting it alight and trapping both Pokemon inside a fiery circle.

The fires rose quickly, licking up at the sky and emitting fierce crackling sounds as both trees and flowerbeds melted in the heat. Erik and Norman stood side by side at the window, both failing to spot either of the Pokemon in the flames.

Suddenly, Blaze rocketed out, having been thrown with force by the Slaking. The beast emerging from the garden not long after, his fur covered in fire. Blaze struggled to his feet, having used up the last of his energy as the Slaking stumbled and staggered in its menacing approach, before collapsing on the floor as it was consumed by flames. Erik quickly recalled Blaze into his Pokeball, he had beaten his father.

Erik didn't know quite how to react, a rush of emotion overcoming him as Norman stood in stunned silence. He had beaten his father fair and square in battle, but had also lost friends whilst doing so. He wanted to jump for joy and touch the sky, sigh wholeheartedly with relief and break down in tears, all at the same time.

For the last few years he had dreamed of this very moment, and each time he expected to be elated when it finally happened, but now it was here he just felt shallow. Norman was defeated, but it seemed to Erik that any chance of having his old father come back to him was now gone.

"Well done, my son." Norman extended a hand out as he stared Erik directly in the eyes.

"Just hand over the badge," Erik replied, refusing his father's hand.

"Okay, but there's something I also wish to show you." Norman handed over the badge, a grey object in the shape of two interlinked circles, one sat neatly atop the other. "Follow me," Erik's father continued, gesturing to his son with a strong wave of his hand as he lifted the metal trapdoor with the other, and descended down the newly revealed staircase.

Erik followed, the stairway was steep and short, his feet hanging precariously over the edge of each step as he held onto the walls to either side with his hands to stop himself from falling down into the dark abyss his father was seemingly leading him into.

A sharp creaking sound pierced Erik's ears, the sound being shortly followed by a dull light penetrating the darkness from the door Norman had just opened. Erik followed his father into the room, which looked to be Norman's bedroom, with a double bed accompanied by an oak desk, topped with candles, papers and pens at the far wall.

A large man sat on a leather chair, facing the desk. Erik could only see the back of him but from what he could tell he looked to be aged around forty or fifty, possessing a bulky frame comprised entirely of muscle, with chestnut brown hair which was short and finely cropped.

"Norman," the man spoke, a voice laced with authority. "And from the extra set of footsteps, I presume young Erik has beaten you."

"He did," Norman replied, standing aside and letting Erik take centre stage as the man ascended from the chair. Turning around, Erik noticed a familiar face, one which embodied menacing features with narrow, dark eyes. The man wore a jet black suit, with purple undershirt and tie, a large letter "R" above his left breast. It was Kanto's Foreign Minister.

"It's good to see you again, Erik," a smile cracking the man's features as he spoke, his piercing eyes judging Erik. "Giovanni, if you didn't remember."

"Why is the Foreign Minister wearing a Team Rocket outfit?" Thoughts echoed around Erik's mind, the notion of his dad working for the criminal organisation stung his brain like an angry Beedrill. "Or maybe," a new thought arose, "Giovanni is the illusive leader of Team Rocket. He would certainly be in a position powerful enough to influence them."

"Why so silent?" Giovanni added. "I would hazard a guess at your thoughts? You're wondering why the Foreign Minister would be wearing a Team Rocket uniform, correct?"

Erik hesitated before answering the elected official. "Yes," he finally replied.

"Because I lead them. Your Father joined us a number of years ago. In fact, we sent him to Hoenn to influence things over here."

Erik was stunned. "What.." was the only reply he could muster. "Why?.." he meekly continued, he knew his father wasn't exactly an honourable man, but he never would have thought he would be working with Rocket.

"Because he wanted what's best for you, Erik," the boss replied instantly, a wry smirk remaining on his face throughout.

"How is your organisation having influence over Hoenn of any benefit to me?!" Erik snapped, more out of surprise than anger.

"Oh no we don't just influence it, we control it," Giovanni's smirk grew wider with each word he uttered.

"You're the authority of Hoenn?!"

"Two thirds of it. You see, the authorities of this region are made up of three parts. Firstly, the Trainer's Union, which is comprised of the eight Gym Leaders. Secondly, a foreign diplomat, where I used my influence over in Kanto to take the role. Finally, the Corporate Partnership, led by a certain Mr. Stone."

"You see, Son," Norman followed on. "Any law or rule passed within Hoenn has to have a majority vote, out of three voters. Giovanni and Mr. Stone are two of those voters, whereas a member of the Trainer's Union volunteers for the role, which I make sure to always be myself through bribes and favours to the other Gym Leaders."

"But what about the common people? Do we not get any say?" Erik asked of them, but Giovanni just laughed before he could finish asking a plethora of further questions.

"The common people?!" Team Rocket's leader chuckled. "Why would they have any power?!"

A thousand arguments entered Erik's mind, but two questions at the forefront of his mind had still been left unanswered. "Why tell me all this? And who are Team Magma really?" he enquired.

"Team Magma are our strikeforce over here," Giovanni replied. "We have established a Pokemon monopoly over Kanto and Johto, and we now wish to move onto Hoenn. They have two tasks, to increase the landmass of this pathetic little island to make it more hospitable for us humans, and to cause general mayhem so we can force votes to control who is able to use Pokemon in the region."

"But so far," Norman continued again. "Almost every time to question has been put to a vote, one of the other Gym Leaders has passionately wanted to volunteer to deny the proposal. We are getting closer though with every mischievous deed Magma commits. We've even managed to ban trainers without a badge"

"What about Team Aqua? Are they your minions too?" Erik enquired to the two, he could feel his anger surging from a pit in his stomach.

"They were a minor mishap," Giovanni answered. "Roxanne and Mr. Stone voted them in to help counter Magma after the break-in back at Rustboro. They are nothing to worry about, however."

"You didn't answer my other question," Erik snapped again. "Why tell me this."

"Do you not remember our conversation when we were at your parents' wedding?" Giovanni replied, the smirk suddenly disappearing off his face; he now looked at Erik with complete seriousness. "You are to be my successor, that's why you were moved to Hoenn, why you've had so much help along the way. Norman here was supposed to kill Blaze to toughen you, then your training to join us would've been complete."

"Wait!" Norman interrupted before Erik could reply. "You promised me that you'd leave Erik out of this!"

"Norman, you have allowed this all, you gave him Blaze and led him along our path. Deep down, you've always known that this course of action is what's best for your son."

Erik thought his dad was going to reply, but Norman just dropped his head and said nothing. He could feel raw anger surging through his body, his whole life had been controlled and manipulated by Giovanni and Team Rocket. All his achievements, his successes, and his losses; was it all part of some grand plan laid down by the mafia boss?

"I have told Maxie you would join and lead Team Magma when you are ready. The fool believed me," Giovanni continued, noticing the silence. "Our true intention is to release Groudon back into the world, an ancient Pokemon of untold power that we can control and manipulate. With his power we would be unstoppable, however, we are yet to find where he is buried, or how to release him. We believe some orbs could possibly hold the key to this."

"What would you want me to do?" Erik asked.

"To make sure Magma and Maxie are completely buried within the rubble when Groudon explodes back into this world. Their job will be complete, and we can leave no trace of our involvement. Then, you will be ready to fully join Team Rocket as my second in command."

"I will never join you!" Erik growled. "Now you've told me your plans, I will do all I can to stop you!"

"Brave," Giovanni replied with complete calm, like he was expecting this reply. "But foolish." The Rocket boss then turned to face Erik's father. "You see Norman, you fail to kill Blaze, and this is what happens. Oh well, we have a plan B," he finished, facing Erik once again.

"What plan B?!" Erik retorted.

"In case you failed to comply, Norman has been training another for this role. He's not as strong as you, but with our guidance and the power of Groudon handed to him upon release, he will eventually become unstoppable."

"Who?!"

"A friend of yours by the name of Wally. In fact, you aided us by helping him capture Ralts." Giovanni turned to Erik's father. "Make up for your failure of killing Blaze, and kill the boy's Ralts instead, it will harden him up, making him vulnerable to conversion to our side."

His friend's name screamed around Erik's head like a klaxon repeating the word "Wally!".

"I've got to save Wally before they can get to him!" he thought, before bolting out of the room and back to where he had last seen the green-haired boy.


	21. Revenge

Chapter Seventeen - Revenge

Erik stormed through Petalburg Woods on the back of his bicycle, feeling slightly dirty within himself whenever he recalled the fact the vehicle was purchased for him by Giovanni; but that wasn't important. What mattered now was finding Wally before anyone else could, making sure his green-haired friend couldn't be manipulated by Team Rocket like he almost was.

Emerging from the forest onto the northern section of Route 104, he could spot no evidence of Wally ever being here. It had been far too long; the battle with his father and talk with Giovanni had eaten up an entire afternoon, and now his friend could be anywhere. The only remaining option Erik could call on was a visit to Wally's uncle in Verdanturf Town, but first, there was something he had to do. Route 115 awaited.

The last time he was here, Erik had exited Meteor Falls and descended the hilly pathway southwards towards Rustboro, he was in too much of a rush back then to catch one of the inhabitants of the route. This time, he made his ascent up the mountain, a steep climb leading him closer to the Falls, sour memories entering his mind as he took a left as the a gap in the hills forked, with the cave exit at the end of the right hand trail.

A short trek through a congregation of trees forced Erik's miniscule journey to conclude at a bright open meadow, with flocks of wild Swablu, Jigglypuff and Tailow littering the open grass field filled with yellow and white flowers that gleamed in the sun's powerful rays.

Flickering his gaze through all the wild Pokemon, he locked eyes with one of the Swablu, the creature swatting the air smoothly with cotton wings. A rustling in the trees behind Erik caused his attention to snap backwards, seeing a bush move slightly as his vision remained fixed on the movement. He felt as if he were being followed the entire time, but could never even manage a glimpse of the perpetrator, until a sudden noise made him jump out of his skin.

An innocent chirp came from directly behind him, the Swablu that Erik had immediately bonded the moment their eyes met now hovered by his side. He turned slightly, and held out a hand to the Pokemon currently swiping from side to side through the air. The Swablu seemed to float towards it, cotton wings motionless in the air as it bashed its nose playfully against Erik's hand.

"Welcome to the team, Cotton."

* * *

Erik stared at the waters of Route 118 with fear as if the calm river which split the route in half beckoned him underneath once more. The last time he was here, he had attempted to surf across the waters on the back of Lady, ending up sinking and almost drowning as his old Tentacool was unable to bear his weight on her back. He had not yet caught a Pokemon along the route, as he watched the lake in judgement for the strongest swimmer.

Hordes of Magikarp swam weakly around the waters like children going for their first paddle, side by side with legions of Tentacool. The jellyfish-like creatures swam with slightly more conviction, with one in particular leading the group alongside a significantly smaller version, possibly the leader's son or daughter.

Erik took a step back, then ran forward to gain as much momentum as possible as he launched a Pokeball into the air, the capsule moving through the route like a homing missile towards its target. The lead Tentacool spotted it coming, throwing a tentacle into the air like a whip to swat the Pokeball away, but the defensive swipe only served to knock the device onto the leader's child, the ball opening and absorbing the young Tentacool inside, before zipping through the air back to Erik.

Erik glanced at the Pokeball as it returned to his hand, the magnetic field around it being drawn to the wrist device given to all trainers. The device's own focused magnetism turning itself on, pointed at the direction of the ball, once the new capture had been secured inside. It was his third Tentacool, so optimistically named it 'Lucky', after his mother's favourite phase, "Third time lucky".

Something caught the corner of his eye, causing him to look upwards. The entire army of Tentacool charged towards him, two dozen or so of the wild Pokemon all angered by his actions. Erik saw only one option, he ran.

To cross these waters he would need to battle the army of Pokemon with an army of his own, and luckily, he knew exactly where to get one.

* * *

Erik stood at the lake's edge, the calm waters stirring into life once the legion of Tentacool spotted their enemy hovering by the waterside. He was flanked to either side by Leaf and Dancer. Blaze, Cotton and Snappy waiting behind as their backup, with Rocky and Lucky together in the daycare centre. Erik had two Pokeballs clenched in either hand as the army of Tentacools spotted the trainer and began their charge through the water towards him once more.

He threw the Pokeballs into the water, containing four of the five Pokemon that Erik had caught along the Route 105, 106, 107 and 108 and on an abandoned ship, the fifth remaining in his pocket for now. He had spent the previous day training with those Pokemon, teaching them to swim with him on their backs, two were weak and could hardly fight, but the other two proved strong, easily able to bear his weight and fight at the same time.

The first of the quartet to emerge back out was a Wailmer, named "Dive", who blasted a few of the charging Tentacool away with powerful foamy liquid, before submerging itself once more. The Tentacool halted at their leader's command, as they search the waters for the rest of Erik's Pokemon.

Two Magikarps leapt up at the same time, Ship and Splash, but were instantly taken down by the army, more whip-like tentacles wrapping around them and strangling the life out of the famously weak water Pokemon.

"Why did I have to capture two of those things," Erik groaned, "Pip! Save them!" he shouted to the next Pokeball he threw out. A Wingull howled as it entered the watery battlefield, swiping down on the Tentacools as it deftly dodged their whips whilst launching pecks. Ship was saved, but Splash was almost defeated, breath sucked out of the Magikarp entirely by the Tentacools' leader.

The lead Tentacool was suddenly grabbed by a set of tentacles, one of his own seemingly turning against him. Erik wasn't fooled though, this Tentacool was his own, "Horde", who saved Splash at the last moment.

Dive emerged once more, and together with Pip sweeped up the remaining dozen or so Tentacools, who were powerless to resist without their leader. Horde joined them after the leader had been taken care of underwater. Erik was victorious, there would be no resistance to him swimming across the lake now, and he could do so on either Dive or Horde. It was a relatively easy victory, as it usually was against wild Pokemon, who without a trainer lacked any sort of desire, drive or direction. The only negative from the whole situation for Erik was the fact he couldn't shake the feeling that the entire time he was being watched.

He recalled his Pokemon, placing six Pokeballs onto his belt; Blaze, Snappy, Leaf, Dancer, Horde and Cotton. Once six were attached to his belt, the other Pokeballs in his hand disappeared into storage, he was able to get away with using more than six Pokemon as he didn't battle a trainer and kept only five Pokeballs attached to his belt, with both Pip and Cotton in each pocket. Now was the time to cross the lake on the back of Horde, the Tentacool easily handling the weight of Erik on his back.

* * *

The surf to the golden sands of the route's far side passed by far more quickly than Erik expected, only half a minute had passed as Horde glided along the water's surface. Erik laughed as he felt a tentacle softly wrap around his lower leg, until the whip suddenly tightened, pulling him under the water as another tentacle lashed out and struck Horde.

Erik had thought it was his own Tentacool playing with him, but now he stared face to face with the leader from earlier, the creature locking into his eyes with pure rage. Erik panicked as a tight grip wrapped around his flailing right arm, thinking it was the Tentacool's second whip, before the grip hoisted him out of the lake and back onto the beach. The lead Tentacool was dragged up by the force and sent sprawling into the warm sands, as Erik looked in shock at his saviour; iconic green hair catching his eye before anything else.

"Hello again. I remember you, Erik," came a voice so calm and assured it seemed to soothe the raging lake behind them.

"Steven," Erik replied, climbing to his feet and shaking himself down in an attempt to release water from his drenched clothes. "Thank you."

"Not to worry, you must have angered those Tentacool," Steven laughed, a sound as soft as the sand they stood on. "On your way to Fortree City I assume? I always knew you had it in you to defeat your father and obtain your badges."

"You did?" Erik replied, shocked at how the man seemingly knew so much, although he was Mr. Stone's grandson after all, the head of one of the three authorities of Hoenn.

"You gave off an impressive aura when we first met, a drive and passion I rarely see in trainers nowadays. Yes, I knew you would always go far." Steven kept his steely eyes locked on Erik the whole time, making the young trainer feel slightly intimidated.

"I'm not that good, honestly," came Erik's modest reply. He felt himself itching the back of his head with one arm, and was almost certain he had gone red from embarrassment.

Steven just laughed. "But you are. Pokemon respond to their trainer's love, they buy into their goals. Much like children, if a Pokemon both loves and respects their parent, or in this case, trainer, they'll obey without second thought, believing their mentor to be guiding them along the right path. Pokemon channel your emotions and the stronger the bond between you, the more they'll be able to push themselves beyond their own limits, just for their trainers.

"So you're saying, the bond between my Pokemon and I is strong?"

"Incredibly so, I can sense your passion and determination. Yes a Pokemon gains strength and experience the more they battle, but their true power comes from their trainer. If you are set in your goals Erik, and treat them with the same love and respect they show you, nothing will be able to stop you."

"Then why are Magma grunts so weak, they have a goal they are set to?"

"They are followers, not leaders. Pokemon cannot be led through force, or fear, or even just care and love. They need someone who can guide and lead them. A further reason is that Magma use fire and poison types only, some people can only relate to a certain type. Other's are at their greatest strength when using another, for instance, I relate to Steel-typed Pokemon. I love their unbreakable determination and raw grit, so my bond is greater with a Pokemon of that type."

"What about me, I seem to relate the same to everyone?"

"Some trainers are like that, usually the strongest ones. They don't differentiate between types, or strength, they love their Pokemon the same no matter what they are."

The advice hit Erik like a ton of bricks. All the strongest trainers he had faced were well respected in their own right, they were leaders, of Pokemon Gyms or organisations, and all cared deeply for their Pokemon. Erik had always been a determined and driven character, with an overall goal to firstly knock his Dad off his perch, and to become the Pokemon Champion. Now, he also desired to take down Team Rocket for the pain they had caused both him and his family.

"Thanks for the advice, but why help me?" he enquired.

"You seem like a good kid, Erik. Besides, I might need your help soon, I'm searching for a Pokemon named Latias, a huge flying beast with four legs, white at the front and crimson at the back. Once I find it, I will come looking for you, will you help me?"

"With what?"

"You'll see, I can't reveal too much until the right time, I'll see you then." And with that, Steven flew off on the back of a released Skarmory. Erik still had no idea what his goals were, or if he was anything more than just Mr. Stones's grandson.

* * *

Heavy rain lashed down upon Erik's face, his clothes feeling ten times as heavy as they normally were. It was a strange occurence of events, as soon as he had entered the route, he noticed bucket loads of rain poured down; whereas just behind him on Route 118 there was not a drop to be seen, in fact, it was rather sunny.

The pathway through to Fortree City, the location of the sixth gym, was carpeted with grass almost as tall as Erik was, the thickets continuing as far as he could see. When he walked up to it, he could barely fit his head over, nor could he see the wild Pokemon coming, which he had unknowingly stepped on. The wild Gloom tackled him to the floor.

Erik grabbed the creature and wrestled it to the floor himself, turning the tables on the Pokemon as the rain continued crashing down, drops as big as pellets. Holding the Gloom down with one hand, he reached into his bag with another, fumbling around until he found a Pokeball and capturing the wild Pokemon, naming it "Rain". He climbed to his feet and wiped the sweat off his brow, relieved that Gloom were physically weak and this one in particular had no bad intentions other than a small revenge for stepping on its toe, otherwise the grass type would've released spores at him.

The new Pokeball zapped into thin air as it went into storage, with Erik releasing Blaze and Leaf from their own capsules to help guide him through the overwhelmingly tall grass with Dancer acting as his rear guard through what was almost like an open-skied jungle or forest, rain lashing down at the group with each passing moment.

Erik pushed his way through a bundle of grass, then another, slowly trudging through muddy ground which felt more like an ice rink.

Suddenly, a loud rustle came from his left, causing the group to stop suddenly and prepare for another fight with a wild Pokemon, but this rustle seemed too large to be another Gloom or the like. Listening intently, no further sound could be heard, like the stalker had stopped moving when Erik did. As he began pushing forward again, the rustling restarted almost in synchronization.

"Run," he whispered to his team, the four of them bolting northwards, hoping they could be clear of the grass and their pursuers soon enough. It hurt his pride to run from conflict, but this was a foe he couldn't see, who seemed to be watching his every move; fear had taken over. The thickets cleared abruptly, leading Erik and his Pokemon to a clearing which proceeded a lake of raging water, the only way across being a single wooden bridge that seemed even more slippery than the mud they had just ran across.

"Blaze, flush them out with fire," he roared to his Combusken, who responded by blasting flames at the tall grass, to no avail, the torrential rain just washing out the newly made fires. "Okay, we wait here for our stalker, where we can see it," he decided, sweat trickling down his rain-soaked face.

The thickets rustled violently as Erik faced towards them, prepared for everything and anything that could emerge from within. Two shadowy figures could now be seen, holding something, as they moved at ease through the tall grass, stopping their movements the instant they caught sight of Erik standing and watching. He had obviously outrun them and they had lost sight of him. As the couple realised they'd been caught, they stepped out into the clearing, leaving Erik to spot two familiar faces; Gabby and Ty.

"You two.." he growled, his voice so quiet it got lost in the pattering of raindrops. "Why are you following me?!" he followed, rather more fiercely than before.

"We've been promoted," Gabby answered, in a matter-of-fact tone. "Our roles are now to follow you, conducting reports on your actions, and to show our viewers what a villainous little child you are."

"The gig's up, though," Ty followed, in his usual relaxed tone. "Our orders came from high up, and included a clause that if we were to be caught by you then our mission would be canceled. There's no way you would give us enough negative footage if you knew we were watching, you'll be on your guard and act unnaturally in any situations that arise."

"So we're going to make you a deal," Gabby snapped.

"We are?" Ty continued, seemingly shocked at her words, but a quick stomp on his foot by his partner caused the cameraman to quickly change his tone. "We are!"

"Last time we made a deal, you never held up your end!" Erik growled.

"Will you two let me speak!" Gabby shouted, her voice like a thunderclap in the rain. "We cannot continue now that you've caught us, so we challenge you to a battle. If you win, we will have no choice but to cancel and probably end up having our careers ended. If we win, you must give us an exclusive interview, reading directly from a script that we write for you."

Erik pondered for a moment, he didn't have to battle them, he could just walk away now and that would be the end of the duo. But on the other hand, the two were weak trainers, and this was his chance to get revenge for their actions previously.

"Deal," he announced, a wry smile appearing on Gabby's face, her male counterpart setting down his camera to reveal six Pokeballs attached to his belt.

"You can't back out now, Erik!" Gabby declared. "The authorities gave us each six Pokemon in order to protect ourselves from you when they gave us this task. If we couldn't frame you, we'd end you another way; in battle!"

Erik considered backing out, but refused, he'd never go back on his word. He grabbed Snappy and Dancers' Pokeballs, lobbing the capsules through the rain to face Gabby's Loudred and Ty's Magneton.

Loudred made the first move, launching a sound-based attack at Dancer; a piercing noise controlled directly by the creature's vocal chords. The Pikachu moved swiftly after tentatively waiting to see what the reporters' Pokemon would do, aiming an electrical attack at the beast's gaping mouth, frying the Pokemon from the inside and paralysing its body, Dancer taking damage from the soundwaves in the process.

"Now let's see how powerful these borrowed Pokemon are!" Ty declared, and he wasn't disappointed. Magneton sent electrical currents zapping through the air, the electricity charging further and further each time it collided with a raindrop, before crashing into Snappy's rain-soaked skin. The ground type was normally immune to electrical attacks, but the Magneton's raw power combined with the rain vaporised the Trapinch in one hit.

Erik took no chances, sending Blaze into the fray in order to melt the foe's steel shell as the Combusken had done many times beforehand. Dancer followed the Magneton's lead, finishing off the paralysed Loudred with electrical sparks, with Blaze rolling from side to side to avoid the Magneton, slowly closing in on his target.

The Combusken would have to get near enough to his foe so that the rain couldn't extinguish his attacks. Blaze closed in, but that's just what the Magneton was hoping for, the Combusken couldn't dodge an attack from right in front of him.

Blaze realised the threat, stopping himself mid-leap, but it was too late, he had gotten too close. The Magneton prepared its attack, before suddenly being tackled into the lake behind it by Dancer, the lake's surface conducting the electrical blast and frying the Magneton. The Pikachu managed to avoid being dragged down with it, clinging onto the ledge by one paw, before being helped up by Blaze.

"Right!" Gabby roared. "I'm done being nice. We will take you down with two one-on-one battles instead of doubling up! Ty, wear him down then I'll finish him off when his Pokemon are weak," she demanded, Erik noticing that she too had five Pokeballs remaining.

"Whatever you say," Ty said, sounding exhausted of his colleague. The cameraman grabbed a Pokeball, but instead of launching it into the sky, he threw it into the lake, to Erik's brief bewilderment.

A huge leviathan-like creature emerged from the water's surface, roaring so fiercely the ground beneath Erik's feet shook. He heard of Gyarados before, but had not yet encountered one of them. He was in awe of the creature but wasn't entirely sure what it evolved from.

Dancer remained on the battlefield, launching electrical strikes into the lake, with Erik hoping the electricity combining with both the rain and the lake to prove too much for even this huge leviathan. His wishes proved true, the Gyarados was fried as electricity licked up the edges of the lake and up into the sky.

A Pelipper was Ty's next choice, Dancer immediately combining electricity with rain to zap the water and flying dual type out of the air, leaving Ty with just three Pokemon remaining. A Breloom was to be his fourth fighter.

Erik sent Cotton out, knowing that the Swablu's flying attacks gave him a double advantage over both Breloom's fighting and grass types.

Cotton immediately used his aerial dominance effectively, the Breloom agilely swatting the air with closed fists in an attempt to crash a blow into the Swablu, but Cotton deftly dodged it each time, swiping at the helpless Breloom below with both beak and wings.

Cotton pecked at the Breloom, flew back up, spun back around and began his descent for yet another attack, dodging a further fist, and aiming a fifth peck at Ty's Pokemon. Erik watched in horror as Ty's Breloom had tricked the Swablu, feinting an attack with one fist before following in with the other, a paw crashing into and knocking the life out of Cotton, the Swablu harmlessly falling to the ground.

Erik sent out Horde next, the Tentacool using its poison-typed advantage to blast venom at the weakened foe, but the Breloom survived the attack, leaving Erik to realise that he had made the same mistake twice. He had sent out two raw and untested Pokemon against Gabby and Ty's powerful creatures, and as the Breloom leapt off the ledge and grabbed onto the Tentacool, he envisioned losing his third Pokemon in the battle.

The Breloom landed multiple blows, causing the two to sink underwater where Ty's creature presumably continued his assault as bubbles rapidly hit the lake's surface. Then stopped.

Seconds passed, then a minute, and still no sign of either of the two Pokemon. After a further minute Erik had just about given up hope. Until Horde emerged; weak, but alive.

The only Pokemon Erik had left that were in any condition for battle were Leaf, Blaze and Dancer, with Ty having two remaining and Gabby five. It was going to be close, and Erik was unsure whether he could actually beat both of them, he couldn't quit halfway through a battle though, the device around his wrist would send a signal back to whoever was in charge of trainers. He could refuse battle with the two as they weren't official trainers, but as soon as he entered battle with anyone, the device buzzed into action, registering the fight as an official battle.

A Seviper was Ty's penultimate Pokemon, the poison typed snake hissing aggressively towards Dancer. The Pikachu sent repeated paralysing waves of electricity through the rain, the attacks boosted by the droplets and once they hit the Seviper, it both damaged and paralysed the creature. Ty's Pokemon stopped and remained as still as stone, both Erik and Dancer freezing as they watched in concern as to what the snake's next move was

The Seviper began shedding its skin, the paralysis going with it as the snake emerged with a new coat of armour. Then it leapt through the air at the shocked Pikachu. Ty's Pokemon caused significant damage to Dancer, swiping at her with poisonous fangs as the electric-typed fighter attempted to dodge the attacks in vain.

Erik made sure to take the first opportunity he could to withdraw Dancer, sending out Blaze in her place. Seviper leapt at Blaze, the Combusken unable to get out of the way in time as the snake landed painfully on him, the two crashing to the ground with Seviper on top, Blaze grabbed the viper's mouth with both arms, poison dripping off razor-sharp teeth.

Erik's Pokemon was losing the wrestling match, the snake slowly but surely overpowering Blaze. Erik felt it again, the same feeling that overcame him in the long grass; fear. Fear that he would lose his oldest friend, it was the same powerful emotion that threatened to swallow him whole each time it looked as if Blaze was in perilous danger.

"Pokemon channel your emotions and the stronger the bond between you, the more they'll be able to push themselves beyond their own limits, just for their trainers." Steven's words spoke through Erik's mind, he had to be strong, that way Blaze could be strong too.

"You can do this Blaze, I believe in you!" he roared, a voice full of passion and fire.

The Combusken slowly turned the tables, overpowering the Seviper and grabbing it by the tail, nonplussed by the continuous jabs from the sharp point at the end of the snake's body. Blaze span around, swinging Ty's Pokemon with it until he generated enough force to hurl the Seviper through the air, sending it rocketing into the lake.

Fortunately, the Seviper couldn't swim, but as the adrenaline in Blaze's body dissipated, Erik realised that his Combusken had been paralysed by the blows from the snake's tail.

Horde and Dancer seemed too weak for battle, Blaze was paralysed. The only Pokemon that Erik had remaining to him was Leaf, against Ty's Vigoroth and Gabby's entire team. He had to believe, in order to drive his Pokemon through the battle.

"Go get them, Leaf," he whispered, as the Gloom marched out to meet the normal-typed Vigoroth.

Ty's Pokemon moved rapidly, swiping continuously at the Gloom with sharpened claws. Leaf struggled to release sleeping powder into the air, but what spores she did emit, the Vigoroth just shook off, only stopping its repeated blows to catch its breath, before slashing once more at Erik's Pokemon.

The weakened Leaf took advantage of Vigoroth's next breath to launch draining spores into the air which sapped her foe's health. Ty's Pokemon moved in for the kill, Erik watching the whole thing happen in what seemed like slow motion. The creature threw forward its arm, claws like knives as they moved inches away from Leaf's face, and stopped there. Vigoroth froze.

Realisation hit Erik like a slap in the face. It wasn't sleeping powder that Leaf tried launching into the air, it was disguised pheromones, she had learnt a new trick. To disguise her spores as to trick the opposing Pokemon

Vigoroth was immobilised by love, and withdrew his arm. Leaf took immediate advantage, ramming into Ty's Pokemon and sending it crashing down the ledge and into the lake below.

"You didn't teach your Pokemon to swim?!" Gabby complained. "Well luckily, all of mine can either swim or fly, and guess what? Erik's Pokemon are all weak. This will be easy for me."

Ty stepped aside to let his female counterpart pick up where he left off, as she sent a Dustox into the field of battle, Erik replying with the only Pokemon he felt was still fighting fit; Blaze.

The Combusken moved quickly, rolling forwards to dodge an aerial assault then easily burning the bug to a crisp, the creature frying before the rain could put the fire out. Blaze was enraged, channeling Erik's emotions, he had turned his fear into anger, using that emotion instead to fuel his Pokemon in battle.

Gabby sent another Dustox into the fray, which managed to get off a psychic attack on the paralysed Blaze, before it too was burnt to a crisp. Her third Pokemon, a Beautifly, was left to the same fate. A combination of Erik realising his true potential as a trainer along with Gabby being a rather weak one herself.

Instead of feeling like a scared child, Erik now felt a man, defeating his father and taking Steven's advice had allowed him to step out of Norman's shadow and become his own person. His mind was clear, he had become one with his Pokemon. Suddenly battle tactics, processes and knowledge filled the gap in his mind where his insecurities once lay. He remembered that a collection of small red berries, named Cheri Berries, in his bag could cure paralysis in Pokemon.

He fed the exhausted Blaze a Cheri Berry, the paralysis instantly curing, but the Combusken had expended too much energy whilst afflicted had worn Erik's oldest friend out, as Gabby threw her next Pokemon into play, a Masquerain. Erik switched in Dancer not only for her type advantage, but to see if he could channel his new found strength through her as well.

But the bond with Dancer wasn't as complete as it was with Blaze, the Masquerain moving quickly to strike Erik's Pikachu with an aerial attack, knocking the weakened Dancer to the ground.

Dancer struggled to get up as Gabby's insect circled around for another attack, the small but colourful bug and flying dual type emitting an irritating buzzing sound as its wings collided with each other.

Erik remained calm, he had to. He focused his thoughts, remembering his journey with Dancer, the connection the two had made after her initial reluctance to join him in his journey. He cleared any thoughts out of his mind apart from those of his Pikachu, and his determination to win the fight.

The Masquerain flew back in for the kill, flying at incredible speeds to use the generated force as an assault on its foe, until it was zapped out of the air by Dancer's retaliation, the Pikachu having climbed back to her feet and launching an electrical strike, the heavy rain conducting the power for the Masquerain to fly into like a bug swatter.

Erik had no choice but to resend Blaze into battle, against Gabby's Ninjask. Nincada's evolution zoomed around the battlefield as fast as a bolt of lightning, with Blaze struggling to keep up with its speed. A slash from the Ninjask bought the Combusken to his knees, with the bug type Pokemon easily dodging each and every blast of fire.

"Blaze," Erik shouted, an idea popping into his mind. "Surround yourself with fire, the rain will put it out but not before the Ninjask gets caught in the fire spin."

The Combusken immediately responded to his trainer, breathing fire and spinning in circles on the spot, using the last of his energy to do so. The Ninjask was caught in the flames, and once the rain had quenched the flames, Erik could see that the bug was no more, he had beaten the duo and gotten his revenge on both Gabby and Ty.

"Victory was there on a plate for you Gabby, and you still couldn't grasp it," mocked Erik. "You truly are an awful Pokemon trainer. Ty on the other hand, gave me a good challenge."

Ty smiled at the praise. His partner however, stormed off back into the tall grass, throwing insults back at Erik; labelling him evil, naive, and screaming that he had ruined her career.

"It was never anything personal, Erik," Ty called out to him, walking over to shake his hand. "I've always wanted to be a top cameraman, and just carried out the jobs given to me. Don't worry, I think you're a good guy really, and besides, that's Gabby out of my life!" he laughed as he picked up his camera and walked off into the grass, Erik accepting that the two were now finally out of his life.

* * *

A trip to the Pokemon Centre, followed by the withdrawal of both Pip and Dive from storage had led Erik over the bridge and to the northern section of Route 119, where he immediately heard screams located from the glass building ahead of him.

The weather institute loomed beyond, with a bridge closing the gap between two cliff edges to his right that led off to Fortree City.

The institute contained three floors, and was constructed entirely of glass, allowing Erik to see that Maxie, Mylos and Grant stood at the top floor demanding something from a gentleman and two lab assistants. Cecilia stood on the ground floor battling two Magma grunts, but as Erik tried to move in to assist, a huge roar came from overhead.

A large red and white Pokemon flew overhead; Latias, with Steven riding atop.


	22. Revelations

Chapter Eighteen - Revelations

Grovyle leapt into the air, looking both as flexible and graceful as a ballerina as the grass typed Pokemon tightly grabbed onto the Magma Grunt's Zubat before sinking sharp claws deep into the creature's rough purple skin.

"Keep it up!" Cecilia roared to her Pokemon in encouragement, appearing to be loving the fierceness of battle. The Institute technician alongside her was faring a little worse, his Shroomish had been thrown into the glass wall next to Erik as he had entered the building, cracks appearing in the pane from the force of the attack. The technician's next Pokemon, a Breloom, was barely holding its own against a Magma Mightyena.

"Cecilia?" Erik asked, unable to believe his eyes that this was the woman who had offered him shelter in her treehouse a few weeks ago. Each previous encounter with the Pokemon researcher had led him to believe she was sweet, innocent and kind, but seeing her now in the heat of battle brought a new side of her to his attention. She combined passion and fury into a seamless blend of fuel for her Pokemon to feed off.

"Finish this!" she bellowed, too ingrained in the fight to notice Erik behind her. The Grovyle, who had been a Treecko the last time Erik had seen it, obliged without hesitation. It was loving the conflict almost as much as its trainer was, as the researcher's Pokemon leapt into the air again, grabbed the Zubat and threw it into the Mightyena. Grovyle landed gracefully, before firing a barrage of razor-sharp leaves at the duo of opponents, cutting the two to shreds and defeating both of the Magma grunts at once.

"Cecilia," Erik said again as he approached. The woman tensed and spun around on her heel as if she expected another Magma grunt, but relaxed herself when she realised that it was Erik behind her. "Sorry to startle you," he added.

"It's okay," she smiled sweetly, as if the fiery lady brimming with passionate rage had vanished and the other half of Cecilia had returned.

"What's going on?" Erik enquired as he scanned the room. They were in the reception area, a desk with an accompanying computer that greeted anyone who entered the building as the pinewood object rested against a thick wooden wall. To the left was a metal door, a sign reading "Staff Only" placed in the centre, and to the right of the room lay a set of stairs, scorch marks ascending them like a burnt snake.

"Team Magma and their boss Maxie are here," the technician replied. Both his ripped labcoat and the cuts on his face made it look like he was attacked by a Pokemon. "I tried to stop them but there were too many. Luckily Cecilia was here otherwise I would've been captured and tied up along with the rest of the tech team."

"I was here for research purposes," Cecilia added, her voice taking a more serious tone, "I wanted to write a paper on the effects different types of weather has on certain Pokemon, when Magma suddenly raided the place. Maxie has taken the Institute's director hostage, but I have no clue as to their intentions."

"Let's find out," Erik said sharply, leading the trio up the stairs and into the next floor, an office-laboratory combination lined with desks and technical equipment.

Immediately two more grunts charged at them, brandishing Pokeballs from pockets in their crimson cloaks. Cecilia's Grovyle sprang into action, with the technician's Breloom lagging behind.

"Erik, go to the top! We'll hold them off," Cecilia bellowed, with Erik duly obliging. He trusted her to win the fight down here whilst he took down Maxie at the top, it would not only be rewarding to put the Magma leader in his place once more, but to find out his side of the story with Team Rocket.

* * *

Erik reached the top floor, a roof of solid aluminium hovering over his head giving the reasonably spacious area a strangely claustrophobic feel, despite being surrounded by glass walls which peered out into the sky which slowly turned to darkness as the sun set. The stairs had led him to a single room filled with a blood-red carpet, with two leather sofas both facing towards a coffee table, sat on a circular rug, lying in the room's centre.

Shifting his gaze from a mug of spilled tea which was now soaking into the oaken table, Erik eyed a thick wooden door suspiciously. Behind the sofa on the right hand side lay another room, with thick wooden walls and a large door, there was no doubt in his mind that the director and Maxie awaited beyond.

Storming through the first room, he shoved open the door to the director's office so aggressively that it slammed against the wall and almost fell off its hinges, Erik was met by two familiar faces who had stood guard on the other side; Mylos and Grant.

"Ahh, if it isn't Erik," Maxie said coolly as his Koffing menacingly taunted an elderly man in a lab coat. The director looked as if he had seen a ghost, shaking like a leaf in the wind as he cowered behind another coffee table, this one having been tipped on its side and now being used as a shield by the office's owner.

"We'll deal with this one, boss," Mylos said in his usual gruff voice, as if gravel was lodged in his throat.

"No, Erik's mine," Maxie ordered, to which the hulking Admin immediately backed down. Grant had remained motionless the entire time, seemingly unsure of which person in the room he feared most as his wide eyes flickered from Erik, to Mylos, then Maxie, before finally returning back to Erik.

"I know you're just a puppet of Team Rocket," Erik half-laughed as he uttered the powerful words to Maxie, causing his two minions to cast cautious glances back to their leader. "Giovanni told me everything."

"And you still refuse to join them?" Maxie smirked. "Good."

"Good?!" Erik growled.

"Yes. Good," Maxie repeated, "I wish for you to join us, not them."

"You're the same organisation, Maxie."

"We were," Maxie replied, remaining as calm as ever, "and they think we still are. You see, when Magma first started out, it was just Mylos and I, along with another gentleman named Tabitha, and a lady named Courtney." Mylos seemed to tense at the mentions of the other two names, and although Erik did not know why, he assumed he was about to find out.

"We saw humans living in a region ruled by Pokemon," Maxie continued. "Hoenn was raw and untamed, full of uninhabitable rivers and lakes, seas and volcanoes, mountains and deserts. Pokemon could live there, but we couldn't, so the four of us made a pact to change things." The Magma boss stopped to clear his throat, as if speaking of such things was forbidden, but carried on regardless. "We started out by collecting powerful artifacts like precious stones which could forcefully evolve or strengthen Pokemon, to help us overpower any who would eventually oppose us."

"The four of us had strong enough Pokemon to challenge gyms," Mylos added, before Maxie shot him down.

"A fair few gyms," the leader interrupted. "We were never violent however, we were seekers of knowledge, wanting to know how to make the land inhabitable, but had no idea of how to do so."

"It was Tabitha's idea to get help," Mylos spoke again.

"Yes, external help, and as we were at a dead end, we agreed," Maxie continued. "A month later a man named Giovanni found us at Courtney's house, my fiancee as it happens. Tabitha informed us that he was a very powerful man looking to expand his enterprise into Hoenn, and was also very much interested in our ideas."

"But I knew who he was," Mylos said, sounding regretful, "I'm from Kanto myself so I know all about Team Rocket, and that they were headed by a man similar to the one who came to us that day. I told the rest of the guys he was in charge of a criminal gang."

"So we declined his offer. But Giovanni is not a man you say no to." Maxie dropped his head in shame as he forced the words out of his mouth. "He just looked at us and said that if we comply, we will have unlimited resources and backing in order to achieve our goals and put us on the map. If we refuse, he will find other ways of getting us on board. But we remained stubborn in our refusal."

"We didn't know then that Tabitha had betrayed us," Mylos added. "When I moved from Kanto I worked as a security guard for a research institute where Tabitha and Maxie worked, we were all like brothers.

"Two weeks after the visit of Giovanni, Courtney disappeared," a sorrow had now taken Maxie's voice whole. "After a further week of no contact from my wife-to-be, nor from Tabitha, a letter arrived in the mail. Tabitha had tricked Courtney into getting on a ship to Kanto, saying the vessel would only take her a short way to the other side of Hoenn where he had made a discovery. My fiancee had been kidnapped and Tabitha given a nice cushy job as a reward, and now if Mylos and I didn't join forces with Team Rocket, then I'd never see Courtney again."

"Team Rocket will never give her up, you do know that, don't you?" Erik said, trying to sound sympathetic. Maxie and Norman seemed to be one of a kind, forced into service to Team Rocket in order to protect those that they love.

"I can only hope, but a contingency has been put in place. We will feign service to them for now, then if Courtney is not returned to my side, we will take Hoenn for ourselves and use it as a base to destroy Team Rocket in Kanto."

Erik considered informing Maxie of Team Rocket's true intentions, to bury Magma, but before he could say anything the crimson leader continued.

"I have always been honest with you Erik, join me as my right hand man and help we can take down Team Rocket together."

"Honest? Then tell me what you're doing here." Erik demanded, a slight rage clouding out his other thoughts. Maxie instantly told him the truth.

"We wanted to investigate the effects the legendary Pokemon, Groudon, had on the weather thousands of years ago, and see if we could control it the same way. We could dampen desserts with rain or boil lakes with heatwaves. Humanity would prosper."

"So what do you say, Erik," Mylos extended his hand out for Erik to shake as he spoke.

"Controlling the weather, forcing Pokemon out of their homes for us to live," Erik thought to himself. "Maxie's motivation is understandable, but his goals are not, and Team Rocket won't allow Hoenn to fall into the hands of anyone else." Erik had made his decision. He shook his head solemnly before saying in a voice barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry, Maxie."

"Then you leave me no choice!" Maxie roared uncharacteristically, speaking of Courtney had caused him to lose his usual calm, collected persona and now he was about to unleash his fury on Erik. "Koffing!"

"Horde, it's your time," Erik shouted as he threw his Tentacool's Pokeball. He now felt more determined than ever to take both Giovanni and Team Rocket down.

The Tentacool stood tall on its makeshift legs, before launching a pulse of water at the Koffing which sent the foe rocketing through the glass, causing shards to scatter everywhere. The Koffing was unable to stabilize itself in time, the force of the blow rendering it senseless as it crashed into the ground many floors below.

"Watch the glass!" the director screamed, peeking over the coffee table now that the Koffing had stopped taunting him, but he was quickly silenced by a quick slap to the back of the head from Grant, who had remained silent until that point.

A Mightyena was Maxie's second choice, Erik responding with Dive. Maxie's new Pokemon faced as much luck as his last, the Wailer hitting the dark-typed foe with a pulse of water much like Horde before her, and just like before, the Mightyena was sent through the now open hole where glass used to be.

Maxie's Pokemon suddenly shot out a paw and clung onto the edge, but as quickly as it had grabbed the ledge, Dive bounced up and slammed down on the paw, forcing the Mightyena to let go and fall down to the surface, landing directly next to the Koffing.

Two down with ease, and four to go for Erik and his team. A Golbat stood no chance against Dancer with the Pikachu zapping it out of the air as it swiftly attacked her, Erik's Pokemon taking some mild damage, a couple of faint scratches appearing on her skin. But Dancer remained strong to send a fatal bolt of electricity at her foe.

"This is too easy, and Maxie won't be going easy on me this time, he must have some sort of trick up his sleeve," Erik thought to himself.

He remained perplexed as a Numel was washed away easily by Horde, the Tentacool slotting into Erik's party with apparent ease. Dancer then took down another Golbat even more easily than before, not even taking a hit this time around, leaving Maxie down to one Pokemon, his favourite, Camerupt.

Erik sent Horde out again, the Tentacool's water type having a double advantage over the fire and ground dual type. Horde moved with surprisingly speed, aiming a violent pulse of water towards the holes in Camerupt's back, causing Erik to briefly remember that Tentacools are deceptively intelligent creatures, using terrain to their advantage and making use of their opponents' weak points.

Maxie's Pokemon responded instantaneously, launching itself into the air and stomping down so powerfully the whole building shook, causing cracking noises to surrounded the room as the glass splintered and smashed with the sheer force of the attack.

Erik kept his focus firmly fixed on the battle, with Camerupt keeping his rear foot powerfully lodged against its opponent, trapping it underneath and choking the life out of Erik's Pokemon. He had forgotten Horde was also a dual type, with his Tentacool's secondary poison type weak against ground moves.

Erik grabbed Horde's Pokeball and moved to recall it, but was unable to aim the device directly at his Pokemon. The Camerupt had placed his body over the Tentacool like a shield, leaving Erik with only one choice, he would have to enter the battlefield himself to save his Pokemon. He stepped forward, but a huge roar from the Camerupt stopped Erik in his tracks as it shattered the glass around them, a blustery wind forcing its way through the gaping holes the glass had left in its wake.

Horde was lost as the life was suffocated out of him. Erik slammed his eyes closed as frustrated tears filled his vision; it seemed to him that each time a new Pokemon was set to become a strong part of his team, they'd be defeated before he could fully establish a bond with them. He had lost so many friends now.

"Please, survive this Horde," he whispered, feeling a fire rising inside of him as he spoke the words, holding on to a small sense of hope within himself.

An overwhelming brightness engulfed his closed eyelids, like sunrays suddenly bursting through dark clouds, followed by a groan of disbelief by Maxie across the room. Erik threw open his eyes to see the Camerupt thrown onto his back, before a dozen long snake-like tentacles constricted themselves around the Pokemon and threw it effortlessly out of the room, the huge beast crashing to the ground below.

"Horde.." Erik whispered delightedly to himself, his Pokemon had evolved into a Tentacruel at just the right moment and had won him the duel.

He withdrew Horde but instantly felt like releasing the newly evolved Tentacruel and celebrating with his Pokemon, or throwing a taunt in Maxie's direction, but was interrupted by a loud crashing sound from behind him. The whole battle had proved to be a mere distraction as Grant loomed over the freshly fallen bookcase which now blockaded the only exit from the room as it sat neatly below the handle, leaving the door unable to be opened from the outside.

As Erik pondered why Grant would topple a bookshelf to barricade the quintet in a room, Mylos grabbed him with both arms. Erik felt helpless as the Magma brute dragged him through the room as easily as a Slaking would carry an Oddish.

"Over the edge," Maxie ordered to his admin.

"You deserve this," Mylos growled at Erik, as he threw the young trainer over the edge of the building, where the glass once was.

Erik gasped in horror as the ground below stared upwards at him like a death sentence, before feeling a strong grip grab him by the wrist; Mylos had caught him.

"What're you doing?!" Erik squeaked, unable to speak clearly through the immense fear he now felt as he dangled over the edge, rain battering his face. The wet weather caused Mylos's grip to weaken.

As Erik slipped slowly to his doom he threw up his free hand, grabbing the Magma admin's wrist and clinging on for his life.

"Join us or fall," Maxie hissed, his usual calm and collected persona had vanished into the wind, to be replaced by something demonic. The boss's voice was almost lost in a blur of rain, wind and fear, as Erik felt his heart beating rapidly, like it wished to punch its way out of his chest and escape the perilous situation.

"He's not saying anything!" Mylos shouted to his leader. "What do I do?!"

"Drop him," Maxie replied casually as Erik felt his own grip slipping.

"What?!" Mylos roared back indecisively.

Erik's hand slipped off Mylos's arm, the only thing now keeping him from a fatal fall was the admin's weak grip on his other hand.

"Do it," Maxie ordered, he sounded as if the decision was as simple as choosing what to have for breakfast.

"I…" Mylos replied, but the choice was taken from him. Erik's rain soaked hand slipped out of the Magma member's grasp, faintly hearing the admin shout "NO!" from above.

Erik dropped at pace, the ground below becoming larger and larger as he neared it. He closed his eyes as he accepted the fact it was the end for him. Friends he had lost along the way flashing before his eyes, favourites like Gully, Ziggy and especially Ice stuck in his mind longer than the others as he braced for an impact that never came.

"Follow them!" came a voice that sounded distinctly like Maxie's.

He felt himself soaring through the air at a fast pace. "Is this what death feels like?" he asked himself, before carefully opening his eyes, only a little, to see Steven staring straight at him; they were on the back of Latias.

The crimson and white creature let out a huge screech as they soared through the skies, through the lands of Hoenn at a casual pace.

"Latias hasn't really been tamed, so we can only take it slow," Steven shouted across to Erik, his voice almost getting lost in the wind. "So outrunning those guys won't be possible," he followed, pointing behind Erik.

Erik spun his head to see both Mylos and Grant riding atop Golbats as they trailed the duo. He was in a state of shock, feeling his eyes wide open and finding himself unable to speak.

"It's alright," Steven chuckled, "you're safe now. Got yourself in a bit of a sticky situation back there I see. Don't worry, Latias and I watched it all unfold, you were never in any danger."

"You could've come sooner," Erik finally managed to say, but Steven just laughed his words off.

"Then you wouldn't owe me another one!" he joked in response. "You owe me two favours now, and it's time I took you up on the first!"

"Which is?" Erik enquired, speaking more effortlessly now. He felt fatigue settling in, the events that had transpired at the institute had taken their toll on him, and he now worried if Cecilia and the director had managed to get out of Magma's grasp in better shape than he did.

"We are going to a small unnamed island in the ocean, off the coast of Hoenn, where Latias and Latios call their home. I believe meteor rocks fell there during the shower that created Meteor Falls, and these space rocks may contain answers I'm looking for about a newly discovered phenomena, 'Mega Evolution'."

"'Mega Evolution'?"

"Some specific Pokemon are capable of harnessing the power of certain meteor rocks, temporarily absorbing the energy stored within to enter a new form. The effects aren't permanent, however, and the Pokemon reverts to its original state after a short time, and must wait for the power within the meteorite to recharge until it is able to mega-evolve again."

"What are the side effects?"

"Unknown. As I said, we have only recently discovered the phenomenon."

* * *

Latias landed softly on the island, which was more akin to a huge piece of rock jutting out of the ocean. The land rose sharply towards a square shaped summit at the island's highest point, the grass covered pathway that led there clouded by thick oak trees. A Latios could be seen nesting at the island's peak, the creature looked almost identical to his sister, apart from a palette swap. Where Latias was crimson and white, the Latios was aqua and silver.

Erik and Steven silently climbed the pathway, unsure of what to expect. They pushed their way through thickets and low hanging branches from menacing looking trees, the climb to the top was short, however the journey upwards wasn't as quick as they would've hoped.

Steven reached the summit first, waiting a moment for Erik to catch up then proceeding ahead to the Latios. Erik noticed the peak of the island was littered with meteorite, from small powerless brown stone to huge hulking black rocks almost the size of himself.

A sudden screech from behind caused the duo to spin around, as the Magma Golbats landed behind them, Mylos and Grant leaping off in unison. Latios instantly flew away startled, unused to visitors; the beast seemed to Erik to be a powerful Pokemon, so he was unsure why it would flee instead of protect its territory.

"Why'd you do that?!" Steven groaned to Mylos, who had stepped forward ahead of his comrade. "We landed down there so we didn't scare the Latios off!"

"Oops.." Mylos muttered sarcastically, before turning to Erik. "Err, yeah, sorry for that back there."

Erik felt an anger surge within him. Mylos had almost killed him, and would have if Steven hadn't saved him, but the admin just seemed rather bemused by the whole situation. He made sure to keep his cool, but what Mylos said next really shocked him.

"So," the admin started, "you're the Pokemon Champion of Hoenn," he chuckled to Steven. "Not quite the Pokemon World Champion, mind, but impressive anyway I guess. What're you doing helping this runt?" he asked, pointing to Erik.

"None of your business. Leave this island at once," Steven demanded. Even when he raised his voice, he still seemed so calm and in control.

"How about we make ourselves a little deal," Mylos countered. "A double battle, and the loser must leave this island never to return. We will see what little stunt you're pulling here."

"Are you insane?!" Grant shouted, before straightening suddenly. "Err.. sorry boss, it's just.. that's the Champion, and Erik has beaten both of us before, more than once."

"Didn't Maxie give you some new Pokemon?!" Mylos roared. Unlike Steven, you could feel the admin's fury when he raised his voice. "Besides, I've bought my A-Team, just follow me."

"Deal," Steven interrupted the duo, speaking for both himself and Erik. The Latias and Latios both hovered above the island, out of range of any wild attacks, but close enough to watch the battle unfold on their home island.

Grant threw a Koffing into the fray, Mylos beside him using a Camerupt. Erik sent Pip out for a taste of battle, with Steven using a Pokemon that he had never seen before, Metang.

Steven's psychic and steel dual type beast destroyed Koffing with ease, using psychic mind waves to fry the poison type from within. Pip tried to follow up by aiming a water pulse down the hole at the top of Camerupt's armour, using the same method Horde had shown her in the fight with Maxie.

The Wingull glided towards Mylos's creature, hovering just above the slow moving beast to launch liquid, but she had underestimated the Camerupt. The fire and ground type Pokemon leapt into the air and grabbed Pip in its jaws, before crushing the life out of Erik's Wingull with ease. Another friend lost caused Erik to tear up once more, but this time there was no evolution to save his Pokemon.

Dive was out next for Erik, with Grant only left with the Golbat he flew atop of.

"Don't use that to battle you fool, that's our only way out of here!" Mylos roared, with Grant immediately stopping in his tracks, a weak "sorry" squeaking out.

Erik's Wailmer didn't have to move as the Metang zoomed over to the Camerupt and picked up the beast with surprising ease, tossing it over the edge as if it were a small boulder. Leaving Mylos with only his Golbat, which he also declined to use.

Upon seeing their defeat, the two Magma members recoiled. But Erik wasn't about to let them leave easily.

"You tried to kill me!" he roared, charging towards the defeated duo. "Do you just do what Maxie tells you?! Are you just puppets?!"

Grant slipped over as he retreated, but Mylos merely held out a hand. "You got us wrong, kid."

"How?! You dropped me!"

"It's Maxie, he's not right. He's getting paranoid, thinking there's a traitor in our midst, telling Team Rocket everything that we plan. But he's wrong, they are one step ahead of us because they have more resources, more manpower, they have Tabitha telling them all about our ways. Maxie is losing his mind, he realises more and more every day that he'll never see Courtney again, and it's killing him." Mylos's head dropped lower and lower with every word, as if what was occurring to his best friend was tearing him apart internally. "Come on Grant, let's get out of here."

Without a word the grunt followed his superior as the two mounted their Golbats and flew from the island, Latios and Latias landing softly back on their homeland as the threats disappeared into the distance.

"I know you're the Champion, but I didn't expect you to be that tough," Erik said in wonderment to his battle partner.

"No Erik, you're the real star," Steven replied as the Latios crawled over to Erik and began rubbing his nose against him. "And Latios knows it!" Steven laughed. "The emotion you show when losing a Pokemon is commendable. Usually when a trainer gets a few badges and loses many Pokemon, they become hardened to it, or they begin to see their Pokemon as just tools used in battle. You, however, really do care for yours, like they're your friends. No wonder Latios wishes to fight for you, he senses your inner strength."

"He does?!" Erik blurted, before locking eyes with the psychic and dragon dual type. He realised that the two had bonded already. "You do, don't you," he whispered lovingly whilst stroking the creature with both hands. "I'm going to name you 'Soar'."

"Here," Steven followed, strolling over to one of the huge hulking black rocks, and ripping out a strange coloured circular stone which was lodged within, handing it to Erik.

The stone fitted neatly into the palm of Erik's hand. It reminded him of an eye, clear all the way through apart from the centre containing an aqua and silver iris which matched the Latios's skin. Steven ripped a second stone from the rock, this one featuring a crimson and white centre, before attempting to search for more.

"The stones are usually clear all the way through," Steven shouted to Erik as he ran his hands along the rock, feeling for any loose parts. "But as soon as a Pokemon absorbs the energy within, part of them enters the stone, creating a link between the two. Because the meteorite landed here, I guess Latios and Latias absorbed the power themselves unknowingly."

"How do I get it to work?" Erik asked, rolling the stone around in his hand as if it would reveal the answer.

"Just direct it at 'Soar', he'll absorb the energy and mega evolve. As I said before though, the effects are only temporary and you'll have to wait for the stone to recharge before using it again." Steven circled the rock once more, but was unable to find any more of the special stones. "Must've just been those two, come on, time to go."

* * *

Erik had no clue as to how to fly atop a Pokemon, so he watched Steven do so on his Latias instead, taking lessons in between some much needed sleep as they returned to the Weather Institute. The two had parted ways with a smile and a thank you, leaving Erik facing the Institute Director at the bottom of the tower.

"Where's Maxie," Erik asked first.

"He left with Mylos and Grant," the director replied in a more assured tone than Erik had heard previously. "I think they gave up when they realised we had no information on what they were searching for."

"And Cecilia?" Erik asked, noticing she was not present.

"She has already left, said something about dropping the paper she was writing as all her notes had been destroyed in the fighting, and taking a new direction in her life."

"Did she say what that may be?" Erik asked with genuine intrigue.

"Nope, just said something about this whole scenario showing her that she can actually make a difference, whatever that means."

"Maybe she plans to become a trainer?" Erik thought to himself. "Or maybe take the fight to Magma? Interesting."

"I must thank you," the director continued, noticing the silence. "We here at the Institute all keep a Pokemon named Castform to study because of their ability to change with the weather and absorb its effects. I'd like you to have one, as without you, I don't know what Magma would have done to me," his voice trailed off as he handed over a Pokeball.

"Absorb? Then I'm going to name you 'Sponge'!," Erik whispered to the Pokeball, before seeing it zap off to storage, now that Soar was his sixth Pokemon. "Thank you Director, I suppose I should now continue on the road to Fortree City and the sixth gym!" he barled in excitement as he spoke about the next destination on his journey.

The director smiled back at him as he began his trek towards the next city, the journey wasn't far at all. So much had happened today but he still had more questions than answers: What next for Magma? Had Maxie really lost his mind? What's Cecilia's "new direction"? Along with many more.

He was snapped from his thoughts as he reached the edge of the city, firstly by the entire place being atop trees. Secondly, by another familiar face standing on a wooden pathway between a couple of the treehouses, as May caught sight of him.

"Erik!" she screamed with genuine joy, rushing towards a ladder before descending to greet him.


	23. Aerial Ascension

_Just a quick note to let everyone know I have created a Twitter account for this story at /abstories_

_Because chapter releases are a bit all over the place (sometimes its out the next week, other times it takes 3 or 4 weeks for me to write one), I will now use Twitter to keep everyone updated on my progress. I'll be tweeting when note taking for a chapter is completed, when the first draft is finished, when its posted and estimated release times for each chapter._

_If enough people follow me (so I know there's interest) I will even start making polls and asking for peoples thoughts, just so I can hear everyone's opinion._

_Finally, the Twitter will also help establish more of a routine, my life has settled down more now so I should be posting more frequently. I hope you enjoy the latest chapter and please give the Twitter account a follow if you are interested. Thank you!_

* * *

Chapter Nineteen - Aerial Ascension

Dozens of oak, beech, mahogany and elm trees arched over a sizable dome compiled of strong wooden layers, with thick beechwood houses resting neatly within the canopies. Dappled sunlight barely touched the ground's surface as Erik and May strolled through the thick undergrowth to reach of the hardiest looking trees; a towering elm which loomed over the duo, the aging bark on its surface peeling off as if it were shedding its skin.

A ladder indented itself into the majestic tree's trunk, seemingly carved in by the residents of this strange town. The climb upwards was slow and steady, with little grip to be found on the ladder's rungs as Erik felt as if he could slip and fall at any time.

As he and May reached the top of the ladder, they ascended onto a wooden platform which acted as the front porchway for one of Fortree City's humble homes. A score of houses spread out across the treetops, nestled in as if they were bird nests in the trees with each having its own platform. The porchways were connected by treacherous looking rope bridges, but despite the apparent peril, Erik knew he'd have to clamber across if he wished to reach the gym.

"This place is dangerous," Erik remarked, a strong fear of heights surging through him like poison in his veins.

"Oh Erik," May giggled, "stop being such a wuss! The people that live here manage just fine."

"Where's the gym anyway? I'm here to win my sixth badge not play in the trees!" Erik retorted, attempting to sound tough, but May only chuckled to herself once more.

"Did you not see that huge dome, dummy?"

"That was the gym?!" he remarked in awe.

"It is a flying type gym, the birds need the space to do their thing." She fluttered Erik a smile, which felt not only a little patronising to him.

They stepped onto the first rope bridge, which wobbled and shook like jelly as soon as Erik stepped on it, before he received the fright of his life as he was flung forward. May had pushed him.

"Hey!" he shouted back, panting.

"You're so slow," May laughed, the sound as melodic as birdsong in the trees.

He picked up the pace a little and despite being terrified he didn't wish to show any more weakness to May. "Why are you even here in Fortree?" he asked as the thought re-entered his mind.

"Visiting an old family friend, who we're going to see quickly before you head off to the gym."

"We are?"

"Yep, I met her when I was a child and we have been friends ever since, even though I'm ten years younger than her."

"And why are we visiting your friend, exactly?" he enquired, slightly irritated that he couldn't go straight to the gym, but May didn't appear to be listening. Instead, she was staring at a huge treehouse, certainly the largest in the city, at the other end of the rope bridge they were trekking across.

Instead of beechwood, this house was contrived of oak, with glass windows and a roof made out of both straw and leaves. It dwarfed the other houses in the vicinity. Whereas Fortree City's other homes consisted of a single large room, this one had two floors; the lower of which being larger as it held up a single room that appeared to be a bedroom.

"We're here!" May shrieked in delight, banging on the door with an enclosed fist. A cheery woman in her late-twenties burst through the door, holding her arms aloft and hugging May at the sight of the researcher. The woman wore an aqua blue top with white trousers and shoes, but most peculiar about her was a matching blue helmet with goggles resting lazily atop. Her helmet had a hole on either side where her lilac-coloured hair sprang forth like wings.

"It's so good to see you again May," the mystery woman remarked, her commanding voice flowing through the air like wind. "And who is your friend?"

"This is Erik, he's looking to challenge the gym here," May replied. "And Erik, this is Winona, the Fortree gym leader."

"Getting someone else to do your dirty work for you as usual May?" Winona chuckled, her facial muscles tensing fiercely as she did so. May blushed.

"Well..." she began, before considering her answer. "If Erik solves your problem, will you allow him to challenge the gym?"

"What problem?" Erik interrupted, feeling even more irritated now that we would have to wait even longer until he has able to challenge for the gym badge.

"We have a Kecleon problem, they change colour and type to camouflage into their environment, and we are currently infested with these invisible creatures who're eating all of our stockpiled food," Winona started. "I would clear them out but have no idea how to find the Pokemon, so I asked May and her father for help."

"And I bought this!" May shouted excitedly, reaching into her backpack and withdrawing a pair of blue goggles with lime green lenses. "A Silph Scope, rebranded as the 'Devon Scope' over here in Hoenn, it allows you to see invisible Pokemon through thermal vision."

"Here you go," May added, before handing the goggles over to Erik, who promptly proceeded to wrap them around his head, covering his eyes with the device. All around him the room was a dark blue, apart from the two blood-red and orange figures of May and Winona hovering in front of him. "Good luck!" May chuckled, making him immediately feel used by her, and not for the first time.

* * *

The Kecleons proved no match for his thermal vision, the creatures appearing through the goggles as visibly as a fire on an open field. The easy victories allowed Erik to finally challenge for his sixth badge.

He cautiously climbed down another ladder, emerging at the dome's door. The interior was eerily empty but surprisingly spacious. Fans rotated effortlessly on the walls, hoping to aid flying Pokemon as they soared through the air. But what struck Erik most was a smoke machine at the top of the dome, which generated a huge layer of fog above the two rows of fans for the aerial beasts to conceal themselves within. A spiral staircase took up the far corner of the room, presumably leading up to the smoke machine.

"A challenger enters!" a boy of around eighteen roared as Erik gawped at the thick layer of smoke. He hadn't noticed the two trainers until now. Winona, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm Kylee," a slightly older woman followed, her ocean blue hair wrapped up in a bun as she lay her piercing mud-brown eyes upon Erik. "And this is Will," she continued, her friend's coal black hair was spiked up so highly he reminded Erik almost of a pineapple. A loud and annoying pineapple.

"Who will the challenger battle first?!" Will demanded, speaking with a boom in his voice as if he was attempting to be an announcer.

"Kylee," he replied instantly, ineffectively hoping to shut the boy up.

"The challenger chooses Kylee!" Will roared into the vast openness of the room, his female counterpart a complete contrast as she looked Erik up and down, judging him with an unbreakable calmness the entire time.

"Swellow, bring me good fortune," she spoke, giving her Pokeball a soft kiss before launching it into the air.

Erik replied with Dive, the Wailmer rolling along the floor joyfully as his characteristic wide smile spread gently across his features. He also released Blaze from his Pokeball to stand by his side. He had always taken comfort in his eldest friend's presence.

The huge bird stretched its navy blue and white wings outwards, flapping them slowly but powerfully to propel itself into the air, then it was gone. Ascending swiftly into the generated fog the Swellow became invisible in the thick smoke, as if Kylee's Pokemon had vanished completely.

"Dive," Erik began, speaking softly to his Pokemon. "Shoot up water blasts, it can't hide forever and you never know our luck."

The Wailmer responded instantly, opening its wide smile to reveal a humongous mouth, jets of water streaming outwards, powerful waves of aqua that pushed towards the smoke.

The two rows of fans that surrounded the mid-level of the dome suddenly roared into action, from slowly moving propellers to rapid rotators. The water blasts smashed into the aerial currents and exploded on contact, leaving a bucketful of water falling back downwards, smacking into the wooden floor and splashing both Erik and Kylee.

"There must be a switch up there," Erik thought to himself, trying to spot the device but unable to see a glimpse of anything through the smoke. Suddenly his attention was thrown back to Dive, his Wailmer rocketing across the room before crashing into the floor. The Swellow had used the opportunity to attack, before rapidly retreating back into the fog.

Erik and Dive remained clueless, they both had no idea how they could attack the Swellow as it zoomed back downwards, aided by the rapidly rotating fans. The flying type launched a fast paced attack leading with its beak, smashing into the Wailmer who had almost reached her breaking point.

Erik recalled Dive, sending out Dancer in her place. He hoped that the Pikachu's agility and type advantage would pull through here, but still had no idea as to how to attack the Swellow. Luckily, Dancer did. The Pikachu sprinted over to the spiral staircase, climbing each stair quickly with little hops as she ascended towards the fog herself.

However, her attempts were in vain, as soon as Dancer reached the halfway point of the stairway, vigorous gusts of wind launched her over the edge. All that kept her from falling to her doom was an iron railing that snaked its way around both sides of the staircase, as she gripped on tightly with both of her front paws.

Swellow seized the opportunity, diving down as straight as an arrow towards his dangling foe. Kylee's Pokemon dived underneath Erik's Pokemon in an attempt to shoot back upwards and knock the Pikachu off. The Swellow had fallen into Dancer's trap.

Dancer released her grip, the wind pushing her backwards slightly but just enough for her to be able to grab onto the ascending Swellow's back. The duo shot into the smoke and all that followed was a momentary silence, like a few seconds of calmness in a thunderous storm. Before, like a storm, the clouds lit up with electricity.

The fried Swellow fell through the air, past the fans which had suddenly calmed down, and to the ground. Dancer rode her foe in a crouched stance the whole time, like a surfer preparing to hit a wave, and leapt off at just the right moment.

"The challenger wins the first round!" Will boomed.

"Skarmory," Kylee followed, before softly kissing her next Pokeball. "Avenge Swellow."

The metal bird roared into life as it escaped the capsule, a metallic screech piercing the air. Erik gave a quick nod to Blaze in response, knowing his fire type always did well against steel Pokemon.

Kylee's flying type aimed directly for the smoke, and to what Erik presumed would be the fan switch. Blaze wasn't about to let his foe have the opportunity, launching a barrage of fireballs which cut through the smoke like a hot knife through butter, each missing the target as new smoke covered where the old had dissipated.

Erik waited for the inevitable, the fans were sure to speed up any second now and Dancer's trick wouldn't work twice. Time moved in slow motion as anticipation swelled within him, but nothing happened, the fans remained ticking along slowly.

Blaze continued launching fireballs. One such parted the smoke to hit something solid, the object emanating a metallic screech as the Skarmory fell from the sky, twirling effortlessly like a falling feather as its limp body tumbled to the ground. In the brief moments the smoke had parted, Erik saw that the Skarmory had been desperately attempting to get a switch to work next to the spiral staircase. Presumably the fan speed switch had been fried by the electrical attack from Dancer.

"And the challenger leaves Kylee to her last Pokemon!" Will once again sounded, resulting in a fierce look from his colleague.

"Shut up and fix that switch!" Kylee growled, her usual calmness disappearing alongside her hopes of defeating Erik. Will complied without a word, seemingly struck back by his friend's fury, and he began to climb the staircase.

Kylee's final Pokemon was a Swablu, Erik countering with Horde, knowing the fans could restart at any time he now tried a new tactic. One he had thought up whilst Kylee and Will bickered.

Horde waited, the Tentacruel now mature enough along with a bond strong enough to read his trainer's thoughts. The fans blurred into action, but still Horde remained motionless, almost inviting the Swablu to attack even if his foe had the fan-generated currents to support it.

Kylee's Pokemon attacked, riding through the currents and gathering speed. The Swablu flew through the air nowhere near as quickly as the Swellow, it's small and weak wings made it seem as if it moved while carrying an extra ten tons.

Horde whipped out a tentacle like a lash, followed by another, then another, until a half-dozen or so thick arms wrapped themselves around the creature and crushed the life out of Kylee's Pokemon. Erik had won the first matchup just as the fans clicked back into action. Will climbed back down the staircase, ready to fight.

A brown ball of fur sprouting a duo of bird-like heads and two large clawed feet was Will's first fighter. The Duduo made no attempt to fly, before Erik remembered that the Pokemon had no wings, a strange choice in a gym full of aids for flying types - and so it proved.

Blaze ruthlessly attacked his opponent, incinerating the Pokemon as if it were a ball of fluff in a stream of lava. Will had lost the first of his four Pokemon within seconds.

"No announcement?" Erik teased, Will's expression at the taunt changing from focused to tensed. The gym trainer stayed silent, launching a second Pokeball into the air.

"Dancer," Erik followed up. "You know what to do."

The Pikachu purred in response, studying her opponent. The Pelipper ascended quickly, aiming for the switch to blast the fans into action. Dancer charged up an attack, and fired. But she was too slow. The fans blazed into life, emitting aerial currents that sucked the electricity out of the air and rendered the Pikachu's attack useless.

Dancer recoiled as her attack failed with Will's Pokemon swiftly taking the opportunity to strike, surfing the fan currents at high speed before being fried by an electrical attack. Erik's Pokemon had feigned weakness once more and tricked her opponent. Dancer was becoming a master of deception.

Will whispered something to the next Pokeball. Erik was out of earshot, but saw tears forming in his opponent's eyes. He felt slightly sorry for his foe, but being a Pokemon trainer was a ruthless career, especially if you wished to be a future gym leader. A second Doduo was the Pokemon Will had pinned his hopes on.

Erik reached to his belt and brushed two fingers over Soar's Pokeball, before pulling his hand away and nodding to Blaze. His Latios could wait until he battled Winona, he wanted to keep the legendary Pokemon as a surprise alternative. Not only that, he also feared the power of mega evolution. He was clueless as to the consequences of unleashing the megastones's energy on Soar.

Blaze's tactic was identical to how he handled the previous Doduo, blasting the flying type with fire in an attempt to incinerate the bird.

"Doduo! Pull through, please!" Will screamed, his childlike demeanour shining in the light of the flames.

Erik suddenly realised the shine wasn't coming from the flames, but instead a bright white light in the middle of them. Once Blaze stopped attacking and the fires dissipated, a new Pokemon emerged from within. Doduo had evolved. The Pokemon that had taken its place had grown an extra head along with all its features becoming enhanced. The creature now stood at almost twice the size.

The Dodrio moved quickly, taking advantage of a stunned Blaze and launched an attack from each of its heads. The right hand side beak shot a blast of fire, the middle head a wave of electricity and the final one a burst of ice. All three collided with a single wave of roaring flames from Blaze simultaneously, the Combusken's attack equally as powerful as the Dodrio's tri-attack.

Both Pokemon were thrown backwards from the resulting explosion, crashing into the ground behind them. Moments passed as they clambered back to their feet in unison, before Blaze used his remaining energy to leap across the room, grappling onto the bird's middle head. The Dodrio had him just where it wanted, the two flanking heads prepared an assault, inhaling air before launching an attack of both ice and fire.

Blaze released his grip, falling to the floor as both attacks crashed into the middle head, creating another explosive reaction which seemed to fry all three of the bird's brains at once. Or maybe, Erik thought, only the middle head had one singular large brain.

"No!" Will screamed, throwing his final Pokeball into the air with force. A second Pelipper materialised from within. Dancer was once again released into the fray.

"Is that all you've got?" Erik laughed, provoking his opponent up even more.

"Just shut up!" Will yelled, his voice like a childs who had had their toys snatched away from them.

The fans had remained whirling in full force as the Pelipper escaped into the smoke. The dual water and flying type lingered in the clouds awaiting Dancer to make her move, feeling safe and secure whilst out of sight.

Dancer sprinted up the spiral staircase for a second time, but this time, when she hit the air currents, she clinged on forcefully to a railing. Sidestepping her way slowly up the stairs, the Pelipper remained stationary in the smoke, feeling safer to wait there than risk an attack.

"Your Pikachu can't trick my Pelly! He's smart!" Will roared, anger surging through his childlike features in the form of twitches and tense expressions.

"Or he now knows that Dancer has tricked two Pokemon in this gym, and doesn't wish to be the third," Erik replied with complete calm.

"But how would he know? He's been in his ball this whole time," Will countered.

"Pokemon channel their trainer's thoughts and energies, they know what you know," Erik replied, feeling like he was echoing Steven's advice to himself.

Dancer had reached the top of the wind currents, she was safe and Pelipper knew this all too well. Will's Pokemon launched a stream of water at the Pikachu, who retaliated by electrifying the attack. Once the electrified water hit Dancer she soaked up the electricity, taking minimal damage. The electrical current flowed through the water which resonated from the Pelipper's mouth, and once it reached the source, it destroyed the Pokemon from within. Erik had earned the right to challenge Winona.

Will slouched to the ground, his eyes clouded with both frustration and exasperation as they remained locked on Erik.

"How did you beat me so easily?" Will cried out, finally lowering his gaze as he slammed a fist into the ground.

"You had no connection with any of your Pokemon except for that Dodrio," Erik started, feeling like a father advising a son. "That's why your Dodrio gave me such a challenge."

"But you said Pelly could hear my thoughts?!" Will shouted, like a petulant child.

"He can, but having a strong bond with a Pokemon and having you and your partner fight for each other is completely different to your Pelly channeling your thoughts inside a Pokeball."

"So what do I do?"

"Treat your Pokemon like friends rather than tools for battle. Open up to them emotionally and allow them to channel your anger, your fears and your strength. Like you did with your Dodrio," Erik finished, before strolling outside without a further word, he needed to visit the Pokemon Centre before he battled Winona.

* * *

Erik returned to the gym after healing his team at the Pokemon Centre on the outskirts of town. The climb through the trees was easier to him the second time around as his thoughts remained focused entirely on the upcoming battle. Although he did not recall seeing Winona during his duels with both Kylee and Will.

"Surely she must have been watching?" he thought to himself during his descent down one of the built-in ladders. He had spent the majority of the trek pondering battle tactics. He knew Winona would use the smoke and fans more effectively than her subordinates.

He pushed aside the large oakwood door, a loud creak flowing through the air as he did so. When he entered the towering dome the entire interior appeared to have changed. Erik blinked twice in disbelief, before realising that the only difference was the lack of smoke. The machine had been turned off, causing the building to seem twice as large.

"Erik," Winona beckoned from the apex of the spiral staircase, her voice echoing sharply around the room. "Follow me."

The gym leader climbed out of a trapdoor at the top of the stairway which led to the roof, Erik briskly following. He half-ran up the staircase, each stair leading onto another, and then another, it seemed to be everlasting as he impatiently awaited the fight for his sixth badge.

He finally reached the top of the stairway. Gasping for breath, he pulled himself through the trapdoor, which led to a ladder on the other side. Climbing the metal rungs which were still slick with rainwater one at a time, he ascended onto a large platform which towered over the trees.

Large drops of rain battered him. He hadn't noticed the weather until now, the trees protecting him from the falling water as he had wandered the city. The platform was grass-green in colour and completely flat. Two human-sized birdcages lay to either side, glued to the ground by gigantic metal bolts which pinned the rim to the surface. There were no rails or barriers to stop a Pokemon from falling over the edge, giving flying types a distinct advantage.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" Winona spoke as she lifted her head and inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the open skies above her. "Please enter your cage, it will stop you from being swept over the edge in the fight."

Erik complied, but as he made his way to the cage he found himself bracing as he battled harsh winds due to the altitude. The gusts made it seem as if nature itself was acting as the two layers of rapidly rotating fans that affected the battle so heavily back in the dome.

As soon as he stepped into the birdcage, its metal door slammed shut. A sharp clicking briefly followed to signal that he was locked within. Presumably to stop him running after a falling Pokemon and withdrawing them into their Pokeball just before they hit the ground.

As he pondered the thought, he was snapped back to attention by Winona releasing a Swellow into battle, the large bird sweeping its wings furiously as it launched itself into the open skies aided by the howling winds.

Erik brushed over Blaze's Pokeball, then Dancer's, before deciding that he wanted to save the two for Winona's stronger Pokemon. Leaf was weak against flying types and Soar still being kept for the element of surprise later on, leaving him with a choice of either Horde or Dive. The former got called to fight for his proficiency against flying types in battle against Kylee.

Horde shot streams of ferocious water and stinging poisonous liquid at his foe, but the Swellow had already shot up into the skies, the attacks missing the target before Winona's Pokemon managed to ascend even further out of reach.

A couple of seconds passed before the Swellow divebombed the platform. Horde shot out further blasts of water followed by poison directly upwards, which surprisingly missed the bird. Until Erik realised that the Swellow wasn't aiming for Horde. Both Pokemon and trainer were caught out by the rapid movement of the descending flying type, the Swellow flashing past the platform like a bolt of lightning.

All that could be heard for a few moments was the melodic pattering of rain against the platform's surface, as Erik's Tentacruel warily crawled over to the edge. Horde leaned over in an attempt to spot the Swellow in the depths of the city until he was suddenly hauled over, the Swellow gripping onto his large nose with her strong beak and hoisting Horde over the side, the Tentacruel tumbling towards its peril.

Horde hastily whipped out his many arms, grabbing onto the edge and swinging himself back over with all his might despite the Swellow remaining attached to his face. The two Pokemon crashed down onto the platform's hard, plastic surface with a thud.

The Swellow looked to regain an immediate advantage, shooting back off into the skies. Horde had no wish to let his foe escape from his grasp, spitting a plethora of acid at the bird which harshly bit at the Swellow's skin on contact.

In agony, the Swellow swept downwards for an attack, Horde launching a pulse of water at her in return. Winona's Pokemon appeared to morph into two as it moved with such agility through the air, dodging the watery blasts and landing an attack on her foe before flying back into the air.

Horde recoiled before he could compose himself, the Swellow beginning her descent once more as she prepared for a final assault on the weakened Tentacruel. Winona's Pokemon reused her double team tactic, but this time Horde remained perfectly still, biding his time. Swellow opened her beak and roared, sensing victory, before a half-dozen tentacles lashed up and whipped the bird out of the sky, then wrapped themselves around the flying type and squeezed the remaining life out of Winona's Pokemon. Horde had won Erik the first fight, collapsing in a heap through exhaustion.

Winona launched her second Pokeball into the open skies, a Skarmory roaring repeatedly as it emerged. Blaze fried steel type Pokemon for fun, and so Erik hoped it would happen once more as his oldest friend stepped into the arena to face off against Winona's next Pokemon. The dual type soared into the skies instantly, performing pirouettes in the sky to avoid fire blasts before divebombing the Combusken, scratching Erik's Pokemon a couple of times and ascending back into the air whilst dodging yet more waves of flame in its twirling ascension.

The Skarmory swept down for a second flurry of attacks, but this time Blaze was ready. The Combusken waited calmly until Winona's Pokemon was almost upon him, before launching two fierce kicks into the creature's abdomen. The Skarmory crashed into the surface, to be met by a blast of fire from Blaze who melted the Pokemon's steel shell whole.

"Darn," Winona growled, her voice almost lost in the howling winds and ferocious rain. "But you have no chance against my strongest Pokemon!" she declared, launching a Pokeball into the skies to reveal an Altaria. The huge blue dragon flapped its pearl-white cotton wings powerfully as it began its own flight into the clouds.

"Aim for the wings!" Erik shouted to his Pokemon, not wanting to waste time by switching his Combusken out, even though Blaze seemed to recoil every few seconds, as the rain slowly chipped away at his friend's health.

Blaze launched fire at the cotton formed wings of the Altaria, but the dragon type turned sharply on its side, avoiding the flames and launching a counterattack. Winona's Pokemon attacked with dragon breath, the force of the move throwing the Combusken backwards and nearly over the edge as he crashed into the ground alongside Erik's cage.

"Blaze, get up!" Erik shouted as he saw the Altaria charge towards her foe. But his shouts were in vain.

As his Pokemon climbed to his feet, the Altaria grabbed him in her talons, swiping the Combusken off his feet. Winona's creature flew up both high and far enough until she hung over the far edge of the dome, and dropped Blaze.

Erik flew forward, grabbing the cage door in desperation as he tried to force it open so he could recall Blaze, but once again his efforts were in vain. The door was locked shut. He closed his eyes, and spoke to his Combusken almost in prayer, wishing his words would help Blaze survive a fatal fall. But even in his most hopeful thoughts, Erik knew that surviving a drop from that height would be impossible.

"Whenever I've needed you, you've saved me," he begged, tears streaming relentlessly down his face. "Whenever I've been unable to fight, you've pulled us all through the pain. Please don't leave me," he paused momentarily in his thoughts as visions of his father walking out on him as a child entered his mind, before he continued. "Enough people have left me, please not you too, I need you, I believe in you."

"No way.." he heard Winona mutter in disbelief. Erik forced opened his eyes to see a dim light in the distance, as the Altaria perched itself and cooed victoriously atop her trainer's cage. He turned to see a ruby red coloured Pokemon rapidly running up the side of the dome, it bore orange feet and had flames emanating from around its wrists. A white mane sprouted from its head, held up by a red crest with two sharp points.

"Blaze.." Erik whispered, as the Pokemon lunged through the air, leaping an impossible height and kicking the Altaria with feet covered in flames. The strange Pokemon then began pounding its foe with fists of fire, before it collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Erik grabbed Blaze's Pokeball and withdrew the newly evolved Blaziken. The process of evolution must have saved his life, just like it had with Will's Dodrio, and the surge of adrenaline had allowed him to carry on momentarily fighting, but nothing could save him from the exhaustion and weakness his Blaziken now felt.

"You pulled through again," Erik whispered to Blaze's Pokeball. "Now time for Soar."

Altaria roosted atop the cage, regaining health along with Winona applying a hyper potion, the dragon flapping its wings happily at the treatment. Altaria was now almost back to full health before Erik even had time to switch in his Latios.

"How did you get a legendary Pokemon?!" Winona howled through the winds and rain.

Erik remained silent, his full focus remaining on the fight as Soar and Altaria ascended into the skies and traded blows. The two dragons proved evenly matched, swapping swipes and dragon breathes between each other before Erik dipped into his pocket almost subconsciously, rubbing his fingers over the megastone as he desired to witness its power.

As Altaria crashed into the Latios, Erik made his move, hoping to swing the battle in his favour. The instant he pulled out the stone and pointed it in his Pokemon's direction, it engulfed Soar in what at first seemed like the light of evolution. However instead of a bright white light, pure darkness shrouded his Pokemon. The black cloud hung menacingly in the air for a few seconds until two red orbs pierced through the shadows. He noticed the stone in his hand had also turned completely black, like the soul had been drained out of it.

The darkness dissipated leaving a huge dragon in its place. The Mega Latios seemed twice as large, his calm eyes replaced by two red slits. The colouring of his skin had changed as well, from ocean blue to turquoise. A deathly screech emerged from from the creature's mouth.

"What is that?!" Winona shrieked, as Erik felt goosebumps upon his skin.

The Latios focused its glare upon the Altaria, who seemed to be backing off slightly. Erik's Pokemon blasted its foe with a powerful beam contrived of pure darkness which seemed to evaporate the Altaria within its midst.

Mega Latios let out another piercing screech, the sound so ugly it harshly banged against Erik's eardrums, forcing him to clap his hands over his ears, dropping the stone in the process. His eyes were drawn back to the megastone, colour slowly returning to the alien rock as the Latios dropped out of the sky, resuming its normal form as he crashed into the platform. The Pokemon looked weak and fragile after the ordeal, as if the lifeforce had been drained from him.

Winona moved to grab the final Pokeball off her belt, until her hand froze in place. She looked shocked, like she had seen something she could not believe. She conceded victory to Erik and handed over her badge without a further word.

* * *

"I'm glad you won't use it again, it sounds dangerous," May whispered to Erik as they sat on a sturdy tree branch, their feet dangling freely over the edge. He had just filled her in on the gym battle and what had happened with Latios.

"I just feel sorry for Latios," Erik replied, his head dropped low as he held his hand in hers.

"You weren't to know what would happen." He felt May's eyes on him, as if her gaze pierced his skin and entered his soul. "So, what comes next on Erik's grand adventure?"

Erik felt himself smiling. "Well I have two more badges to collect, and of course Team Magma to deal with. Maybe Giovanni too. But firstly I need to apologise to Latios. And do this."

"Do what?" May replied curiously.

His head felt as if it weighed a ton as he slowly lifted it, before he locked gazes with May and felt a huge rush of emotion. He leaned in and kissed her softly.

Erik pulled away after only a couple of seconds, but May wasn't about to let him go. She grabbed Erik forcefully and pulled him back to her. She kissed him firmly, their lips interlocking then releasing as they weaved shapes with their tongues. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Erik felt joy, and for only a few moments, he was at peace.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Erik whispered to Soar, stroking the beast's long neck. "If I had known mega-evolution would cause you pain, I would never have tried it."

The Latios purred softly in response, he seemed to have forgiven its trainer.

Soar crouched down, beckoning Erik to mount who complied after a moment's hesitation. He grabbed onto the Latios's back before clambering onto his Pokemon.

Soar took off, launching itself from the ground with its trainer in tow, who clung onto his Latios for his life. Erik felt his fear of heights take over him, before his Pokemon roared triumphantly. The sound was almost soothing to his ears as he sat up on his Pokemon's back, releasing his grip as the Latios hovered smoothly in the air.

Erik shouted a jumble of words in glee, he could go wherever he wanted to now on the back of Soar. He was free.


	24. Stones

_Just a quick reminder to everyone to check out my Twitter feed for the story abstories, where I'll be posting regular story progress updates to keep everyone in the loop, and even a few polls if enough people follow so I can gauge your opinions!_

Chapter Twenty - Stones

"I only have to delay you!" Grant roared, his voice carrying across the mountaintop. The grunt sounded as if he was attempting to reassure himself as his fearful body language betrayed his words. The grunt peered at Erik through the dimming daylight, the setting sun's heat continually waning as a chill slowly took to the air.

"How many times have I beaten you now?" Erik countered in a controlled tone, feeling a slight irritation at having to fight the Magma grunt. He had sighted a small wooden crate filled to the brim with various meteor fragments atop a small ridge. Mylos accompanied the box of stones, glaring down at him from beside the crate, clutching in his hand a ruby-red orb the size of Erik's fist. "And delay me for what?!" Erik followed.

Grant quickly glanced back to Mylos, searching for a response, but the admin remained stiff, as if he were awaiting something. The grunt turned back to Erik, casting his gaze over the rock-strewn battlefield. They stood atop , oblivious to the battles which raged mercilessly all around them. Aqua and Magma members clashed all the way from the base of the mountain to the summit.

"Erik," a gruff shout reached him from a couple of metres below. He turned to find a Sharpedo ramming into a Magma Numel and launching it off the edge, the fire type plummeting downwards to the calm waters of the lake which surrounded the mountain. "Don't let him distract you, we need to stop them from using the stones!" Archie barked, his fierce voice levitating over the sounds of battle, before the Aqua leader was engaged by two more Magma members clutching Pokeballs.

Erik threw his backpack to the ground, rapidly reaching into the bag to find only a single hyper potion. His team were weak, most of them barely able to stand. Both the climb and the Magma resistance as he ascended the mountainside had depleted them.

"Here," Cecilia shouted, throwing two bottles of soda water over a ledge to him. "I mixed in some healing powder, they should do the job." After throwing the bottles she immediately returned to her own battle, her freshly evolved Sceptile battling two koffings.

A huge explosion rattled the ground he stood on as he caught the bottles, followed by yells of help as both a Magma grunt and Aqua member were launched over the edge of the mountain by a Koffing self destructing halfway down Mt. Pyre. All that was left of that particular battle was a gaping hole in the cliffside. Erik tried focusing on task at hand, but his mind carelessly wandered through his memories, searching his brain to how he had gotten to this point…

* * *

The crisp morning wind sailed through Erik's chestnut-brown hair as he inhaled deeply, taking in both the fresh, warm air and the view. Both Route 120 and Route 121 spread out from underneath Soar's body. The former was littered with ponds and small rivers, long grass and thick trees, all within a permanent mustiness. Route 121 however, was a single long path, carving its way through a vibrant rolling grassland.

Erik had added two new Pokemon to his team, who now rested within storage. A Gloom called Happy for the constant smile on its face, despite the grass type usually being a rather grumpy Pokemon, as well as a Pelipper which he had named Pelly, after Will's. The gym's trainer had inspired him somewhat, seeing the youthful enthusiasm and naivety that he himself used to contain.

Route 121's main attraction however, was the Safari Zone. The Safari was a massive open area, full of fresh grasslands and open pools of water, the whole Zone contained Pokemon who called it their home. Many people volunteered to work there and look after all sorts of creatures that inhabited the area, which was split into four zones. By law, a trainer was allowed to enter and capture a Pokemon from each zone, although the Hoenn rules still applied so only the first Pokemon they encountered could be caught.

The first of Erik's conquests of the Zone was a Psyduck, the water type chased out of a pond by Dive before Horde wrapped its tentacles around the Pokemon for Erik to easily capture his new partner, who he named "Quack".

Entering the second zone, he immediately spotted a Rhyhorn upon a manmade hill, the stone carved to resemble the natural habitat of certain Pokemon. Horde shot out leash like tentacles once more, wrapping the foe in them, before recoiling in agony. The Rhyhorn's sharp, rocky skin piercing the Tentacruel's arms. The rock and ground dual type charged at Horde, its horn like a knife on the front of its head. To defend himself, Erik's Pokemon shot out a powerful foamy blast of water, which did more damage than Erik had wanted. The Rhyhorn now lay lifeless on the ground, unable to be captured.

The third and fourth zones led to more success. A Xatu named Blitz and a Pinsir he called Warrior were Erik's final two captures from the Safari Zone.

* * *

Erik's mind snapped back to the present as he withdrew Blaze back into his Pokeball after dousing the Blaziken's wounds with the hyper potion. Horde and Dancer sipped happily on the soda water, their health slowly restoring as the healing powder within the mixture hit their system.

He flashed a glance back to Grant, before almost falling backwards in shock. The Magma grunt's Koffing floated menacingly before him, before it closed its eyes and began to self destruct. Erik felt himself being hauled to the ground as the explosion shook the mountain, the force of whcih blasted Horde off of the edge. Dancer had tackled him to the ground just in time, but his Tentacruel wasn't so lucky.

Horde lashed out a dozen tentacles, grabbing onto anything and everything he could find. He managed to cling onto two large boulders which jutted out of the cliff side, and using the rocks to propel himself back up the mountain, barely managing to pull himself over.

Grant's Numel lay in wait for the Tentacruel, with Erik and Dancer still on the ground. The grunt's Pokemon immediately charged at Horde, lowering its rock-encased skull to ram Erik's Pokemon for a finishing blow, aiming to send the Tentacruel plummeting over the edge to his doom.

Horde instantly lashed out his tentacles once more, wrapping them around yet more boulders which protruded from the mountain's surface and swinging himself over the Numel. As Horde crashed back into the ground he fired a powerful water blast at his foe, launching Grant's creature over the edge.

The Tentacruel took a moment to pause for breath, inhaling and exhaling sharply whilst Erik fumbled around his belt for Horde's Pokeball. Until a Mightyena seemingly appeared from thin air and leapt onto Erik's Pokemon, grabbing onto the Tentacruel with jaws like a vicegrip. The force of the attack threw both Pokemon over the edge, Horde once more whipping out tentacles in an attempt to save himself, but the impact was too much. Grant's Mightyena attempted to launch itself off of Horde in a last ditch effort to save its own life, but the Tentacruel wrapped its whip-like arms around his foe. If Horde was going down, he was taking the Mightyena with him.

Erik ran over to the edge, seeing the duo crash into the mountainside time and time again as they continued their struggle. Each time Horde attempted to lash out tentacles and cling onto anything he could, the Mightyena simply bit down harder, causing Horde to recoil. The battle of the beasts ended abruptly as they crashed into a sharp crowd of rocks, almost out of sight. The lake that surrounded Mt. Pyre licking up and claiming the two lifeless Pokemon.

An overwhelming sadness took him, the powerful emotion making his limbs feel weak, until he forced himself to feel something else in its place. Anger.

Erik span on his heel at a sudden sharp sound to find himself face to face with an oncoming Mightyena, the beast looking to catch him unaware, until he was saved once again by Dancer. The Pikachu tackled Grant's new Mightyena to the ground, before quickly paralysing her foe with an electrical discharge.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Erik roared to Grant, his opponent ignoring his calls as the grunt kept his gaze fixed on the battle. "Coward!" Erik followed sharply.

Erik quickly realised what Grant had been staring at. He had assumed the paralysed Pokemon would've been easy prey for Dancer, but something had stopped her. The Pikachu held her hands over her eyes and stumbled backwards, confused and frightened. Erik quickly grabbed her Pokeball before she unknowingly tumbled off the edge, recalling her and sending out Soar in Dancer's place.

"What are you playing at?!" Erik passionately roared, he felt his hands clenched into two fists as his whole body shook from rage. Once again Grant ignored him, refusing to make eye contact.

"Erik," Cecilia shouted from below, she had just defeated two Magma grunts as she began her ascension to the summit. "Mylos," she followed, panting for breath after a short but treacherous climb.

Erik turned his head towards the ledge, catching a sadistic grin on Mylos's face. The admin clutched a circular stone as black as the night in his hand. The object seemed to shine brightly, despite its colouring, as if it had been polished unrelentingly for days.

"Interesting to see the effect these alien stones have on Pokemon isn't it?" Mylos called down, followed by a laugh that sounded more like a bark.

Erik held his tongue, clenching his jaw in an attempt to contain his fury as a shadow passed overhead. Soar.

The Latios had grabbed the paralysed Mightyena in his claws with little resistance, flew out over the mountain and far enough to ensure the drop would be lethal, and released Grant's penultimate Pokemon; sending the Mightyena flailing helplessly to the surface.

Soar rapidly flew back to the battlefield as Grant's Golbat aimed straight for the undefended Erik. The Latios emitted a burning wave of energy from his mouth; but instead of the pure darkness that emerged from his mega-evolved form, this attack was the opposite, a powerful blast of light which fried the Golbat within.

"No!" Grant yelled. "I lost again!"

"Not to worry," Mylos followed. "You've slowed him down enough."

"What do you mean?" Erik barked as both Cecilia and Archie climbed to meet him. He received no response as Mylos walked off out of sight on the raised ground.

Grant had taken a side pathway which led around the back of the ledge of which Mylos had stood upon. The trio followed in pursuit.

The peak of the mountain was also surprisingly flat. Grant had two new Pokeballs in one hand, digging through the crate with his other as he crouched beside the box of stones. Mylos stood before the trio, a Camerupt by his side who was, by the look of his empty belt, the admin's sole Pokemon.

"Where's Maxie?!" Erik roared, receiving a disarming look from Cecilia.

"Stay calm," she whispered, placing a hand on Erik's arm which he shrugged off.

"He's preoccupied," Mylos smirked. "I think we've served as an adequate distraction."

"If you're just a distraction then what's that?" Archie questioned, pointing at the crate of stones.

"Oh just a gift for that rich ponce and his son," Mylos responded, his and Archie's gravelly voices almost a perfect match for another. "Well," he followed, holding up the ruby red orb in his right hand, which caused Erik to notice that his left hand lay resting in his pocket. "This one is for us."

"What does it do?" Cecilia asked, before Erik could say anything.

"'Tis a surprise," Mylos replied instantly, a scowl on his face as he failed to recognise the woman.

"You still haven't explained why you're up here!" Erik roared. "Why not take the stones to whoever they're for?!" he shouted even louder, stepping forward to avoid another worried look from Cecilia.

"That would be Mr. Stone," Mylos responded. "We needed to test them first, we needed to cause a distraction, and.." he paused, feigning ignorance. "Oh yes, the red orb was up here somewhere, we just needed to find it. There was also supposed to be a blue orb but no idea where that got to."

"Why are you bribing the Stones' anyway?" Archie enquired.

"You stupid?" Mylos taunted. "The region rules and laws and stuff are decided by three voting members, we own two. Just need the third."

"Enough!" Erik almost screamed, grabbing Dive's Pokeball and launching it into the air. "If you're just a distraction I'm taking you down, then you're telling me where Maxie is!"

Cecilia reached for her Sceptile's Pokeball, before Archie stopped her with a hand on her wrist. "He needs this," the Aqua leader spoke in a hushed tone.

"Wait, what is that?" Archie followed as both he and Cecilia were taken by surprise by a mysterious object Mylos pulled from his pocket; a strange circular stone which reminded the duo of an eye. Clear all the way through apart from a stone grey and crimson red iris, matching the Camerupts colour pattern.

Erik wasn't only angry at Magma, Mylos and Grant, he was also angry at himself. Instead of charging into battle with the criminal gang, he should've stopped to think. It was obviously a distraction, but he couldn't have ignored his sighting of Wally on the mountain, as his thoughts raced back once more to how he had gotten here…

* * *

"Watch out!" Erik warned Soar, spotting a barrage of fireballs honing in on them. His Latios swerved left and right in an attempt to dodge the plethora of flame, before being overwhelmed. Fire struck Soar in the face, another ball of flame clipping his wing as the Latios lost control in midair, Erik almost falling off the back of his Pokemon, managing to grab onto a wing with a hand as he held on for his life with a loose grip.

He used his free hand to grab Horde's Pokeball and release the Tentacruel into the lake below, releasing his feeble hold on Soar to avoid a fireball aiming directly at him. He crashed into the calm waters, colliding with an unaware Surskit who fired bubbles at him angrily in retaliation. Erik struggled to sight Horde through the murky waters as he gasped for breath, inhaling what seemed like an ocean's worth of water in the process.

As his vision slowly faded, he felt himself being swept up to the surface. Horde had grabbed him just in time as he coughed and spluttered, choking up streams of water. Soar hovered weakly ahead, battered and burnt.

Horde lifted up a tentacle to reveal the Surskit trapped in his embrace. Erik grabbed a Pokeball and threw it at his aggressor, naming it "Bubble", before withdrawing Soar into his own capsule.  
Erik had only just exited the Safari Zone atop his Latios, the duo racing out towards Lilycove City.

He climbed to his feet, balancing carefully upon Horde's slimy skin and lifting his head to spot Mt. Pyre before him. The gigantic mountain which lay in the middle of a triangle of Lilycove, Fortree and Mauville painted Erik's entire view in the greys and browns of its surface.

He ascended the mountain with his eyes, spotting red figures swarming it. Magma.

The army of crimson criminals like ants erupting from their nest. A tide of blue surged up Mt. Pyre to confront Team Magma. Team Aqua were here as well.

"Something big must be happening," he whispered to Horde. "If both Team Magma and Team Aqua are here."

* * *

The Shuppet was caught, Dive's water blasts enough to weaken the creature enough for Erik to capture his new party member, who instantly zapped off to storage. "Welcome to the team, Ghost," he whispered quietly, almost to himself.

He had passed through the Pokemon graveyard which rested peacefully at the base of the mountain, carved by residents of nearby Lilycove City over a hundred years ago to bury their Pokemon that had died in a great civil war that had engulfed Hoenn. Two armies of trainers battling to decide how the region should be led. The rebels who fought for a fair voting system eventually defeating loyalists who believed Hoenn should be ruled by a single family.

Erik felt another war would come soon, in Kanto. The common folk fighting to overthrow Giovanni and Team Rocket who ruled supreme in the region. Or so he hoped as he passed through the serene graveyard, occasionally feeling the shakes and hearing the cries of battle raging above.

He climbed the steps which led to the upper levels of the mountain.

Back outside, he had to strain his neck as he looked up to see crimson and aqua clashing, the tides of battle moving back and forth. Suddenly, a flash of lime green caught his eye from nearby.

"Wally?" he whispered in question to himself, as he recalled the iconic bright green hair of his friend. The figure seemed to round a corner of rock but when Erik got there, it had vanished. "Maybe he climbed higher up?" he thought, beginning the pursuit.

* * *

"Maybe it was just my imagination," Erik thought to himself. He had heard stories of strange sights in places like this, where the ghosts of deceased Pokemon haunted a location and appeared to be something they were not. If Wally had been here, he wasn't going to be found.

Erik had climbed the mountain at pace, battling Magma grunts as he ascended up the cliffsides and rocky spaces. His team were weak and tired from the struggle, but a fresh wave of energy flowed through them as they encountered both Archie and Cecilia.

"Joined Aqua now have you?" Erik joked to Cecilia, who wore white sports shoes with a matching bowl hat. A sky-blue tank top held up by a belt and red skirt, with a yellow bag wrapped around her waist. "And what are you wearing?!" he followed.

"My climbing clothes!" she snapped back, almost defensively, before responding to his first question. "And no, I was visiting the graveyard on my way to Lilycove when an army of Team Magma attacked the place, they're looking for something and I want to stop them."

"How'd they get so many members?" Erik enquired, more to Archie than Cecilia. It was the Aqua leader who answered.

"It's like Kanto, Team Rocket control the region so they can manipulate the rules and force people to join them if they wish to become a trainer," he started, staring upwards to where both Mylos and Grant sat atop a ledge, it was still a way to go to reach the duo, but at least now they were in sight of Erik. "When Hoenn banned trainers without a badge, a ton of people were left with a choice, join Magma or give up being a trainer completely. And you can bet this isn't all of them."

"Look out!" Cecilia yelled as a Golbat swept passed them, four Magma grunts in close pursuit.

"Erik," Archie growled. "Get up there and deal with Maxie or whoever's in charge. We'll hold these guys off and make our way to you."

* * *

Mylos pointed the megastone in his hand at Camerupt. His Pokemon reacted immediately, a startled roar bursting from his mouth which caused the entire mountain to shake.

Dive recoiled slightly, almost afraid of what was to come. Even Erik felt fearful, he had seen the effect a megastone had on Soar, his Pokemon enduring excruciating pain as the darkest sides of its soul took the Latios in its malevolent grasp.

The Camerupt let out a cry of agony as a cloud of pure darkness swallowed it whole. A few silent seconds passed until two red orbs pierced the black. The cloud faded, leaving in its wake a true monster. The beast measured at twice its previous size, with Camerupt's usually placid facial expression replaced by gnarling teeth and and a facial expression filled with hate. The two grey openings on its back replaced by a coal-black mini-volcano, the size of the creature itself.

Dive blasted water at the creature, who despite usually having a double type weakness to the Wailmer, let the attack ricochet off him as if he were made entirely of solid stone. The monster reacted angrily, the volcano on its back erupting slow-moving streams of molten lava which eased over the Camerupt's skin before hitting the ground, melting through the rock like acid. The megaevolved Pokemon opened its jaws, a huge jet of pure black lava escaping from within and encapsulated Dive. Once the attack had evaporated, the Wailmer had vanished. Dive had been disintegrated.

"What is that?!" Archie cried, grabbing his Sharpedo's Pokeball. Cecilia followed with Sceptile and Erik with Blaze.

The three powerful Pokemon combined attacks. Sceptile launching a barrage of razor-sharp leaves, Blaze igniting them as Sharpedo followed in, enclosing his robust jaws around the Camerupts mouth. Mylos's Pokemon simply shook off the attacks as if they didn't harm him, before replying with his own.

Mega Camerupt blasted black fire, the Sharpedo who was still wrapped around his mouth disintegrating immediately. Blaze acted swiftly, tackling Cecilia's Sceptile to the ground and saving her life.

"Get that Blaziken!" Mylos roared to his Pokemon in encouragement, almost laughing at his newfound power.

"Big mistake," Erik whispered to himself. He had felt it when Soar had megaevolved, the Pokemon was no longer under his control, it fought for only two things. Dominance and destruction.

The Mega Camerupt turned its lumbering frame slowly, each stomp of its foot seeming to cause a small earthquake as the entirety of the ground shook around them.

"What are you doing?!" Mylos roared at his Pokemon. Then he realised. Erik saw the admin's eagerness and pride turn to pure fear in his eyes as his own Pokemon had turned on him. Mylos sprinted towards the ledge.

"Run you idiot!" he barked at Grant, who leapt up and followed his boss in close pursuit as the Camerupt finished his rotation. The beast inhaled then erupted a powerful stream of black lava towards the Magma duo.

A huge explosion caused Erik to fall backwards.

As he strained to see through the resulting smoke, he spotted both Mylos and Grant huddled together, shaking. They had been saved by the box of stones which had reacted explosively on impact with the Camerupt's attack. Most of the stones within had shattered in the blast, but a few scorched remnants flew through the air, landing in various places across the mountaintop.

Blaze and Sceptile took their chance whilst the Mega Camerupt's back was turned. Leaves brimming with fresh flames collided with the beast but instantly deflected away off of the creature's rear as if the beast was composed of titanium.

Camerupt aimed another attack at the exposed Magma duo, before Mylos hurled the megastone at it. The object impacted against a blast of black fire and disintegrated like all before it. Surprisingly, the stone had managed to deflect the attack onto a large boulder beside both Grant and Mylos, which evaporated in the blast.

Mega Camerupt howled in pain, a piercing deathly screech that sounded like metal being dragged roughly across metal. It de-evolved, shrinking before Erik's eyes and its previous mega-features morphing back to how they were previously.

Blaze and Sceptile attacked relentlessly, launching both fire and nature attacks until the beast would never have gotten back up.

"Now tell me!" Erik ordered, storming over to the shaking duo. Mylos bolted, but Grant remained frozen in place. Blaze sprinted over and grabbed the grunt, pinning him up against a nearby boulder.

"Wha...Wha…" Grant tried to speak, petrified by what had just happened.

"Where's Maxie?!" Erik growled, struggling to hold himself back.

"Erik!" Cecilia screamed, but he paid her no heed.

"Slateport...Submarine…" Grant managed, shaking like a leaf in Blaze's grasp.

"Behind you!" he heard Cecilia shout again, but it was too late. Mylos barged him to one side.

As Erik fell to the ground he spotted the red orb in Mylos's left hand, and a clear megastone in the other. Blaze dropped Grant and span around to confront Mylos, but the admin was on him, placing the megastone against the Blaziken's chest. Erik sprung to his feet, sprinting over to Blaze who emitted a horrifying shriek as his body reacted with the megastone.

Mylos grabbed the two Pokeballs on Grant's belt, lobbing them into the air to reveal a couple of Golbats which the pair escaped on the back of, the red orb remaining in their possession.

"Blaze!" Erik shouted, trying to divert his Pokemon's attention from the pain it was enduring. "BLAZE!" he roared at the top of his lungs. The Blaziken's attention snapped to his trainer, Erik catching a glint of fear in his Pokemon's eyes as he wrapped both arms around his oldest friend.

"Please," he whispered to Blaze. "Hold on."

The Blaziken calmed, slouching to the ground in exhaustion. Erik recalled Blaze into his Pokeball before spotting the megastone on the ground. The clearness within had now been replaced by two intertwining orange and red lines in the centre. Part of Blaze's soul lay within, the Blaziken now linked to the stone.

* * *

Daylight pierced through the clouds as Erik strolled through the cobbled streets of Slateport, unable to stop checking the stone in his hand. Blaze's Megastone seemed to haunt his every thought, he didn't have to use it, he knew that, but there was so much he didn't know about the stones. Could they be controlled by others? Would there come a day when temptation would boil over and he'd use it?

He shook his head in an attempt to force the thoughts out. To no avail.

Erik shoved the stone into his pocket, withdrawing the two gifts from Cecilia and Archie in an attempt to force his mind elsewhere. The pair had each handed him a unique stone atop Mt. Pyre, saving that he'd know what to do with them more than they would. The trio had planned to head in different directions to counter the Magma threat. Archie would search for their hidden hideout, knowing that it resided within the outskirts of Lilycove. Cecilia heading to Sootopolis, the city birthed within a crater containing ancient secrets that may help them discover Magma's plans.

Erik himself volunteered to avert Maxie's plans at Slateport, unable to overcome a punishing feeling within himself that he was too late. The climb and battles of Mt. Pyre, followed by the silent journey to the harbour town had taken him through the night and into the morning.

He stared at the two stones which lay in the palms of his hands. The first was a gift from Cecilia, a lime green circle with a large teardrop nestled in the centre which was a darker shade of the same colour. In his other hand rested the gift from Archie, a sand-coloured stone roughly in the shape of the sun. His mind remained clueless as to the uses of both objects, as he emptied his hands into his backpack.

"...Of our newly built submarine!" a voice bellowed through the wind as Erik rounded a corner. On landing in Slateport harbour he had buried both Dive and Horde at sea, before a quick visit to the local Pokemon Centre. From there he travelled to Stern's Shipyard, the captain's assistant informing him that his superior currently resided in the harbour, delivering a speech to unveil their new submarine.

Erik withdrew both Splash and Warriors' Pokeballs from his belt, holding one in each hand. He had chosen the former as a replacement water-type, and wished to see what a Magikarp could do in battle. The latter pick was an easy choice for him, Pinsir being his favourite bug-type Pokemon, he had desired to have one in his team since he was a child.

"I look forward to launching the expedition!" Capt. Stern finished to rapturous applause. A crowd of twenty or so civilians mixed in with sailors had gather around a small podium where Stern gave his speech. Erik joined the crowd, slowly pushing his way through the onlookers.

"Captain Stern!" a loud voice sounded, echoing through the harbour like a series of waves. "I presume you can hear me," Maxie followed, his voice flowing loudly out of a megaphone.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the captain demanded, scanning the area for the source of the voice. The crowd began whispered in hushed tones, confused as to what was taking place.

"Your submarine now belongs to Team Magma," Maxie continued. "Take pride in the fact that your invention will serve as a linchpin for the next great step in humanity's development."

Stern's facial expression switched suddenly from confusion to horror, before the captain bolted into the harbour's main building. Erik swiftly followed, barging his way through the crowd.

It was too late, the submarine finished submerging as the duo entered the building.

"Erik?!" Stern gasped as the trainer moved alongside him. "What is going on here?!"

"What does it look like," Erik snapped, in no mood to explain the obvious. "Do you have any idea what Team Magma would want with a submarine?"

"The same thing we did," Stern replied, deflated. "An ancient Pokemon long believed to be extinct has rumoured to be discovered, its location currently undisclosed but known to be deep within the depths near Sootopolis."

"Why are you going after something like that?" Erik was astonished, what would a shipyard captain want with the legendary Pokemon.

"Word came down from the authorities that they wanted a submarine built rapidly for the exploration of caves underneath Sootopolis, hoping to find this...erm... 'Groudon'. Oh dear, how are they going to get their submarine now."

"Dont worry," Erik answered bitterly, almost biting his tongue in disgust as he reached into his pocket and clasped Blaze's megastone in his hand. "They've got it."


	25. Siege

Chapter Twenty-one - Siege

Erik tasted the salt of the sea on his tongue as cold breeze emanating from the nearby ocean washed over him, the biting wind like a neverending series of waves upon his skin. Wingulls screeched overhead, viciously fighting over scraps of food like their lives depended on their next meal. The journey from Slateport to the outskirts of Lilycove City on the back of Soar had proved uneventful and now the vast city stretched out before him, painted in dull hues of the ominous grey stone buildings.

The entire city was perched on a hill overlooking the ocean. A sharp descent on the far side led to a small beach, which was all that separated the city from a seemingly endless body of water. Erik scanned the town, looking to find anything of interest. A bustling harbour to the south immediately grabbed his attention, full to the brim of sailing boats, yachts and fishing vessels floating harmlessly upon the water's surface. Bright white pearls against the dark blue of the sea. He pondered for a moment as to why none of the ships were setting sail, all stationary in a motionless rest, but cleared the thought from his mind as he continued scouring the town.

He spotted a small rise to the north of the city, with a huge monstrosity sitting at its crest. The building, which reached up and touched the sky, was labelled 'Lilycove Shopping Mall' as it dwarfed two further buildings which flanked it, an art museum and a contest hall.

Erik marched through the city, his intention solely to find Archie. The leader of Team Aqua had headed to Lilycove City in his quest to uncover the secret Magma base, but he hadn't the faintest idea of where to find him. He strolled through the streets, houses constructed with stone clustered the edges of narrow sand littered pathways as the city suffered from overcrowding. He turned a corner, only for a flash of crimson to catch his eye, then another, and another.

The entirety of the city was infested by members of Team Magma, who sauntered along as if the city belonged to them. In fact, there were far more of the crimson cloaked criminals than there were ordinary civilians. A particular huddle of grunts loitered by the street's edge. Erik ambled up to them then dropped to his knees, pretending to tie a shoelace in order to listen in to their conversation.

"-Unable to get out," what looked like the leader of the group spoke in a hushed tone, Erik having to lean in slightly to hear.

"We need to get out of here someday soon, 'Operation: Newage' is set to begin soon!" a grunt chirped in.

"Newage?! You mean 'New Age' you fool! How do you know about that anyway?!" the head grunt snapped, raising his voice slightly.

"I saw it written down somewhere," he blurted in response, his quiet voice starting to tremble.

"Regardless," the head grunt replied, lowering his voice back to a whisper. "Aqua have blockaded the port. We're stuck here. Besieged."

"Why don't we just force them out? There's hundreds of us and only a handful of them," another grunt added.

"I don't know, the boss is waiting for something I-" The head grunt's words were cut off by a scream from the hill. Erik leapt to his feet, his view of the rise obscured by a row of houses. He bolted towards the source, ready for anything.

* * *

"Hand over that rare Pokemon!" the grunt demanded, piercing coal black eyes peeking through her hood. The Magma member pinned a woman against the mall's outer wall by her jumper, the victim hiding a Pokeball behind her back.

"You can't just take my Swampert!" the woman in distress yelled, to nothing but a harsh laugh from the male grunt accompanying the aggressor.

"We do as we wish," he replied, a cold snarl painting his face. "We're the law in this region."

"Let her go," Erik growled, tightly clutching Blaze's Pokeball. He edged closer, making sure he made no sudden movements which could lead to the woman getting hurt.

"Erik!" May shouted from within the grunt's grasp, the look of her eyes flickering from fear to joy momentarily.

"You'll back off if you know what's good for you," the hooded grunt threatened, averting her gaze from May for only a second.

"Time to leave," her partner said, slowly backing away. "That's the one the boss warned us of!"

May heaved a sigh of relief as the grunt released her before the hooded girl joined her partner in hastily retreating, disappearing into the depths of the dull stone city.

Erik felt pride bubbling up inside him. From a small boy wanting to prove himself and overcome his father, to a man whose presence made Magma tremble and flee in fear. He confidently strolled over to May, who leapt into his arms.

He felt her tears soaking into his shirt and her heart pounding against his chest. He pushed her away, only slightly, but enough to lift her head gently with his hand and plant his lips on hers. His own heart thudded violently as they made shapes with their tongues, it was as if his heart wished to reach out of his chest and intertwine with May's.

They released their lips wet hold on another, as much as Erik wanted to stay with her all day, he knew the region needed him. If what the grunts were saying held true then Magma now controlled it, and Archie had besieged the city.

"I was only here on a shopping spree," May whispered to him, her shaky voice matching her vulnerable demeanour. "I just wanted some new clothes," she followed, tears freely streaming down her soft cheeks. "Then they ambushed me when I walked outside, I managed to fight them off with Swampert but as soon as I withdrew her in her Pokeball they grabbed me," she sobbed, struggling to bring herself to stop the tears.

"Magma will pay for harming you," Erik replied, a surge of anger flaring within him.

"That Archie guy and those Aqua people we met in Meteor Falls," May whispered, her voice so quiet Erik had to focus to hear it. "They're leading the siege of the town."

"Then I will join with Archie and together we will stop Magma once and for all," he replied matter-of-factly.

"I want to help." A weak smile flickered upon May's face as she spoke the words, but it vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Erik thought for a moment. He certainly wouldn't allow her to come with him, it'd be far too dangerous. An idea blossomed in his mind.

"My friend, Cecilia, is in Sootopolis doing some investigating on Magma and their goals," he began, sure he saw a spark of either anger or jealousy in May's eyes at the mentioning of Cecilia, but like her smile, the emotion had disappeared in an instant. "I need to get a message to her, tell her that Magma are looking for an ancient Pokemon named Groudon in a cave somewhere beneath the area. Can you do that? Then help her uncover where this cave is?" he asked, lightly brushing away the tears on May's face with his thumbs.

"Yes!" May responded with delight, newfound energy and enthusiasm pouring out of her at the suggestion. "Anything I can do to help, and maybe we can go on another mission together soon." She kissed him softly on his cheek, before grabbing her Swellow's Pokeball. "I know!" she squealed. "I'll come to the caves with you once we find it! See you then!"

Before Erik could say no, May was already on top of her Pokemon, who took off and soared into the skies towards Sootopolis.

* * *

Ocean waves crashed against the partly submerged cavern's exterior walls of solid stone. Sprinkles of residue from the impact lashed onto Erik's face as a cold wind clawed at him. Soar roared fiercely, in anticipation of the assault, the Latios hovered cooly above a cohort of Wailmer who lingered expectantly on the sea's surface.

Erik looked down at the makeshift army. A dozen or so remnants of Team Aqua who each rode their own Wailmer seemed fierce and determined, there was no room for cowards here. The police force had taken many casualties upon Mt. Pyre, reducing them to only a loyal few.

"Yeah, we're all that's left," Archie shouted up, seemingly hearing Erik's thoughts. "Our pleas to the authorities for new members has been revoked. In fact, I just got off the PokeNav shortly before you arrived. They've disbanded us, saying Magma's no longer a threat."

"Magma aren't a threat?!" Erik shouted back, before it hit him.

"Yep, what they said. We all know why."

"Team Rocket now rule the region," Erik responded, to himself more than Archie.

"That's why I've gotta do this first," Archie replied. Erik attempted to shoot a reply but the Aqua boss was already sailing to the front of the cavern, holding a hand in the air to tell his grunts to remain where they were.

Archie span sharply on his Wailmer, the large Pokemon turning in the water as agilely as a bird in the sky. Before he scanned the line of men and women before him, eleven loyal members of Team Aqua and Erik floating above on a Latios.

"Listen up all of you," he bellowed outwards to the legion. "If you lose in battle today you will all lose your Pokemon licences, and with Magma in charge now you won't be able to get those back. If any of you wish to go home and return to your normal lives and abandon our mission then do so now, I won't think any less of you." He paused for a moment, before continuing after none of his grunts moved an inch. "But we are Hoenn's last hope. If we lose today it is all over, Magma will release Groudon and rule the region with an iron fist. Erik up there says that Team Rocket control Magma, meaning that Rocket would rule the world as we know it!" he roared, passion and hatred stinging his tongue after every word. "Victory today means freedom for not just us, but everyone! Your friends, your family and your future children! So let's defeat whatever we come across inside and…" He paused once more, before punching the air. "Take. Down. Magma!"

A roar erupted from each and every one of the grunts below Erik, as he locked eyes with Archie. He nodded in approval to the Aqua boss, despite feeling a tinge of fear. He knew every word was true, so much was riding on this assault here today. They could stop Magma in their tracks, before they could even get to Groudon, and relinquish their hold on the region. Or they could fall here and end any resistance to the criminal gang's monopoly over Hoenn.

* * *

The cavern's interior rose out of the water, and apart from a narrow estuary of water that acted as the entrance, the entirety of the hideout looked as if they were inside a volcano, rather than within the ocean's depths. Contained fires lit up the cave, with crimson banners featuring the silver and black Team Magma logo stitched in hung from the roofs, motionless in the calm air of the hideout. Red hot tubes pumping what looked like lava ran across the walls, adding to the sweltering heat of the base.

"This is not a drill, response team to their stations. Repeat, this is not a drill," blared speakers in each corner of the room as Erik and Team Aqua ascended from the water and onto the rough rocky surface.

Large metal doors dotted around the area flew open as swarms of Magma grunts sprinted into the room, grasping Pokeballs in their hands.

"Hold them off!" Archie barked to his team. They were heavily outnumbered but what they lacked in manpower they made up for in both resolve and skill. "Erik," the Aqua leader continued. "Follow me."

Archie led Erik away from the confrontation, through a large set of metal doors and into the main hub of the hideout. Computer stations decked the area whilst high energy machines operated across a huge laboratory-like room. Magma members wearing white lab coats and thick rimmed glasses only added to the effect, the scientists ignoring the duo as they charged through the room to another metal door.

"How do you know where to go?" Erik asked as he panted for breath, not used to running.

"Same way I knew where to find this hideout," Archie grunted. "Had an informant in this place, until he was discovered," he followed, as another door slammed shut behind them. They were now in a long tunnel with many glass windows running along the walls.

"So they knew we were coming?" Erik questioned as he looked through each of the glass windows whilst sprinting passed, each contained a horde of either Zubats, Poochyenas or Numels. The rooms here had one purpose: To breed legions of Pokemon to be used by Magma grunts in battle.

"Yep," Archie answered, holding up a keycard to a scanner. The device flashed green before the door it was securing swung open. "That's why there were so many of them at the entrance."

"Did you not think to warn me?!" Erik snapped whilst gasping for breath as they finally stopped running. "Or even your team?" he followed. They stopped in their tracks to look around the new location. They were atop a glass bridge, hovering over a dozen or so Magma grunts training in a large open battlefield below.

"I couldn't," Archie hissed, unsuccessfully trying to whisper. "With Aqua being disbanded by the authorities their loyalty was shaken, telling my boys we were walking into a trap would've push them over the edge!"

"And what about me?" Erik whispered, making sure to keep his voice low now over the loud roars of battle below them. Grunt faced off against grunt in mock fights. Suddenly, a Numel burnt a Poochyena to a crisp, causing Erik to notice that these weren't friendly practise sessions at all. They were merciless and very real trainer battles, where only the winner would stay on to fight out in the field for Magma. He questioned what would happen to the loser, would they be given another licence by the powers that be? Or turned into a scientist, their lack of skills in battle proven by this test?

He turned his thoughts to the path ahead. The walkway ended in a sharply descending staircase that looped back around. They'd have to pass through the training zone to get to Maxie, a large door barring their way on the other side thereafter.

"With what we've seen so far, looks like they're training an army down here," Archie commented, ignoring Erik's question in an attempt to shift the subject. "And it will only get worse further in."

"Then we have no time to waste," Erik replied, brushing off Archie's ignorance as his mind wandered. With Aqua nearly destroyed and the authorities onside, then why would Magma need an army?

The answer hit Erik, striking him like a painful bite from a poisonous snake. Magma were preparing to take over Hoenn, wrestling control of the region from Team Rocket with Groudon, increasing the landmass and controlling the population. But this army wasn't for Hoenn. Maxie would've stuck to his word after all, he would've declared war on Kanto and Team Rocket with an army of Magma grunts and the backing of Hoenn.

Still, Erik had no regrets. Team Magma were just as villainous as their superiors.

* * *

Erik counted fifteen grunts. All of which were clasping Pokeballs in their hands and honing in on both he and Archie. Normally, he'd fight them one at a time, but this was Magma's region now, in their own home. They would battle him as they wished.

"Take down the blue one," one of the grunts commanded. "The boss will want to speak to Erik, better weaken the punk first though."

The grunts obeyed, the majority heading towards Archie but a half-dozen still targeted Erik.

A plethora of Pokeballs entered the lukewarm air, with no pipes to be seen on the rocky walls. This room was cooler than the rest of the facility. Five Zubats, six Numels and three Poochyenas emerged, the grunts sending out all of their Pokemon at once. Erik responded the only way he could; by releasing all six members of his party.

Blaze was immediately set upon by the Zubats, bursting flames and launching kicks in an attempt to swipe the creatures from the sky. Leaf and Dancer teamed up against the Poochyenas and a Numel, electrified spores rocketing towards their opponents. Soar agily glided past flame bursts from a trio of Numels, Warrior and Splash taking a remaining Numel each.

Warrior wrestled his foe to the ground, landing a punch and moving in to slice the fire type with pincers, before roaring flames erupted from within the Numel's mouth. Erik's Pinsir flew backwards swamped by fire, the Numel charging for a finishing blow.

Soar twirled through another wave of fireballs, before swooping down. But it wasn't the three aggressors he aimed for. He picked up another Numel in his clutches, launching it across the room and into a spiked rocks which jutted out from the wall. Warrior frantically managed to swot out the fires, before returning to battle to help his saviour battle his cluster of Numels.

Erik turned his gaze to Splash, the Numel fighting her cautiously approached the Magikarp. Splash was flopping harmlessly on the ground, the approaching Magma Pokemon didn't know how to react, it had been borne amongst other Numels, Zubats and Poochyenas, in a habitat that was all about battling with ferocity. As the Numel approached, Splash threw herself into the air, the fire type carefully stepped aside for the Magikarp to flop back to the surface, crashing into the ground and hurting itself in the process.

"Hey Erik!" Archie roared from across the room, his army of water types evenly matched with around twenty Pokemon facing off against him. "Magikarps are special. Most trainers give up on them after seeing how weak they are, but they require something different to other Pokemon. They need someone to believe in them."

"I do believe," Erik whispered, smiling at Archie before returning his view to the battle at hand. Splash struggled as the opposing Numel rammed into her, launching the Magikarp across the room.

Dancer lay helplessly on her back as she held a Poochyena off with both her paws, clasping them around its jaws. She had already defeated one Poochyena as Leaf struggled against both the third and a Numel. Dancer was slowly being overpowered by the Magma Pokemon's tough jaws, as Leaf was launched across the room having been rammed by the Numel. Erik's Gloom crashed violently into the ground next to her trainer.

Erik felt the top of his right leg burning as if it had suddenly caught fire. He reached into his pocket and immediately withdrew his hand due to the scalding heat within. He had to get whatever it was in his pocket out of there, otherwise it could burn through his leg. He tried again, quickly slamming his hand into his pocket and turning it inside out, the stone inside flying into the skies.

Leaf climbed to her feet before the Poochyena leapt onto her, the Numel following in closely. The stone stopped suddenly in mid air, hovering for a split second before zooming towards the Gloom, colliding with her body and engulfing her and her two attackers within a bright white light.

Erik saw Blaze fall to the floor out of the corner of his eye. His Blaziken had destroyed two of the Zubats with fire and kicked a third into the wall, but the final two had overcome him. The poisonous creatures latched their fangs into Blaze, enclosing their mouths around both a shoulder and a leg.

Soar crashed to the ground after being hit by one too many flame bursts and Warrior was locked in a wrestling match with a Numel as another creeped up behind him, preparing to catch the Pinsir unaware and smolder him into ashes with a burst of flame.

"Splash," Erik whispered to the prone Magikarp, who flopped weakly on the ground as the opposing Numel closed in for the kill. "I believe in each and every one of my Pokemon, and right now four of mine are about to be defeated and I don't know what will come out of that light Leaf went into. You're my only hope, I need you."

Splash turned his terrified eyes towards Erik, his gaping mouth gulping breaths of air before she too, was engulfed in a shining white light.

Dancer tried to fry the Poochyena with an electrical blast, but it was too late. Her foe wrapped powerful jaws around her throat, sinking its fangs inside, until sharp razor-like leaves sunk into the Poochyena, who let out a horrific howl of pain before Dancer launched her attack.

Warrior overpowered the Numel and sliced it apart with his pincers but failed to notice the blast of fire from behind him. Erik's Pinsir burst into flames before both he and the Numel were swept away by a strong wave of water.

Dancer sprinted over to check on Soar's health. The Latios was still breathing, albeit weakly, as she blasted away the two Numels circling the beast with electricity.

Leaf and Splash approached Blaze. The newly evolved Vileplume emitted sleeping powder into the air, sending the Blaziken to sleep as well as the two Zubats, who released their tight grip on Blaze in their slumber. Splash reached down with his long neck, the Gyarados grabbing the Zubats in his huge jaws and eating them whole.

Erik cheered, giving both Leaf and Splash a hug before returning his team to their Pokeballs. A glance over to Archie saw the Aqua leader struggling in his own battle, but before Erik could sprint over to support his friend, he was rebuked.

"Carry on without me, we need to stop Magma no matter what!"

Without a word of argument Erik obliged, he knew Archie was right.

* * *

Erik strolled through the corridor, clutching Leaf's Pokeball in his hand just incase she was needed. He passed by glass window after glass window, each showing him a room conducting a different experiment. From testing an all purpose robotic battlesuit, with Pokeball launchers attached to each arm, to machines experimenting on meteorite fragments; Team Magma had it all. The final two windows before a sharp turn as the corridor latched onto another saw megastones being poked and prodded by lab equipment as the scientists attempted to unravel the mysteries within.

Archie had said the facility needed to be destroyed at all costs. He was right. Team Magma were experimenting with forces they both couldn't understand nor control.

The new corridor contrasted the last. From the white stone walls featuring thick glass windows of the experimental sector of the facility to the grey metallic plates of the hideout's lowest levels. It also surprisingly seemed to slope upwards. Each step resonated in a sharp clunk as he walked along the metal grates towards two Magma grunts who loitered before a staircase which looked to descend into the facility's final area.

"Halt!" the first grunt shouted across the corridor to Erik as he approached, his frail voice echoing softly around the walls.

"Out of my way, I'm here to see Maxie!" Erik demanded, refusing to stop in his tracks.

"Get the switch," the grunt said to his comrade, who immediately proceeded to a circular scarlet-red button lurking before the staircase.

The grunt thumped his palm onto the button.

Neon yellow lights descended from the ceiling, swirling colours around the room and emitting a buzzing siren-like sound. Erik heard movement behind him, turning his head to see an impenetrable looking metal door rising out of the floor where the corridor began.

The lights and sounds blared relentlessly, as a metal grate opened in the wall near the grunts. Five Electrodes rolled out, malicious smirks menacingly washed across their faces as they spun their way down the sloped surface towards Erik.

He launched Leaf's Pokeball into the air. Blaze was too weak, Soar and Splash too large for the corridor, so he kept both Dancer's Pokeball in reserve whilst sending Warrior in to help Leaf.

His newly evolved Vileplume launched a deluge of powder into the corridor, shooting the sleeping spores towards the Electrodes. The quintet reacted instantly, each generating waves of electricity and conducting the voltage through one another which created an electrical barrier that absorbed the spores within.

Erik was trapped, with five Electrodes and a huge wall of electricity rolling towards him and the metal door slammed shut behind him. He was at a loss as to how to save himself.

He was so close, he knew Maxie awaited him down the staircase. Archie and his grunts would have been defeated by now, or if not, searching for a way to destroy the facility. As raging sparks flew off the barrier as the Electrodes closed in, an idea flicked into Erik's mind.

At lightning speed he grabbed Splash's Pokeball and released the gigantic sea creature into the tight hallway. As soon as his Gyarados entered the fray, the metal plating underneath them collapsed, the beast far too heavy for the floor to maintain its weight.

They fell, crashing into the mini-harbour below the tunnel. Erik had landed on top of Warrior, the Pinsir cushioning his fall. He quickly rolled out of the way in the nick of time to avoid the Electrodes smashing into the ground beside him, their electrical energy zapped out of them by the impact. Cracks appeared in their hard skin, as their eyes turned from dots to crosses.

One such Electrode survived the fall, attempting to weakly roll away from him, but Erik felt remorseless. He grabbed a Pokeball and launched it at the electric-type, capturing the creature within and naming it "Zap".

"Stop right there!" the grunts shouted in unison as they descended the staircase after Erik, launching five Pokeballs into the air, a Poochyena emerging from within each. Splash roared at his new foes, the Gyarados seemingly unharmed by the fall. Leaf and Warrior, however, had fared much worse.

His Pinsir lay lifeless on the ground. He had landed awkwardly and with his trainer also landing on top of him, the fall had proved too much. Leaf was also motionless as Erik held his breath, hoping for any sign of life. He exhaled, relieved to see his Vileplume struggling to climb to her feet after a short while as he recalled the grass type into her Pokeball.

"So nice of you to join us," a calm rose hovered towards Erik, as he pushed himself back to his feet. A bay opened up before him, the stolen submarine cooly floating within, a drill newly attached to its face. Maxie stood over by a control panel, flanked by two assistants who wore their customary labcoats.

"Nice place you got here," Erik remarked as he coughed whilst brushing dust off himself. Sweat trickled down his face as he huffed a sigh of relief that his risky plan had worked.

"Unfortunately," Maxie followed as he strolled over to Erik. Roars of battle echoed behind him as Splash had already defeated two of the five Poochyenas. "You weren't meant to see any of this. Which gives me a dilemma."

"And what is that?" Erik followed, moving his hand to his belt as he prepared for battle.

"How can I let you live when you have seen all that you have," Maxie commented whilst he lifted the palm of his hand into the air, shortly followed by the other. "On the other hand, Giovanni says he needs you alive."

"Let's just battle," Erik snapped, wrapping his fingers around Dancer's Pokeball as Splash tore apart another Poochyena.

"Not this time. The way I see it the choice is in your hands." Maxie raised a finger of a still-raised hand. "Option one: You back down and I trap you down here and keep you as my prisoner until the time is right to release you." The Magma boss then raised a second finger. "Two: You proceed to attack me and I'm forced to destroy you. I only need a little more time then we can release Groudon and control the land, before taking the fight to Team Rocket. If Giovanni believes you still live until that time then no harm done."

Erik clenched his jaw as Maxie raised a third finger, but he wished to hear no more. "I take my own option," he growled, stepping forward and moving to release Dancer's Pokeball. "I defeat you in battle and take you down myself."

"Hold on. Hold on," Maxie calmly replied. "Option three is the good one. Now you have seen I will be true to my word, once Hoenn is under our control we will take the fight to Rocket with an army, you can join us, even if only in secret for the time being. I will allow you to leave, whisper none of this to anyone and I will call on you when the time is right."

Erik moved Dancer's Pokeball back to its place on his belt, the device clicked into place once it had reached its destination.

"Very good," Maxie said in a rasp of a voice, his tone barely above a whisper as a large smile spread across his aging features.

"Oh," Erik said in response, a smile lighting up his own face. "You thought I'd taken up your offer?" he finished, as Splash roared behind him. The Gyarados had defeated all five Poochyenas and was now ready to take down the Magma boss. "Let's do this Splash!" Erik roared, before a loud siren cut him off.

"Self destruct sequence initiated."

"What?!" Maxie roared, his calm demeanour disappearing. "Who authorised this?! Turn it off immediately!" He commanded the assistants, who frantically activated their communication devices; to receive only silence.

"They're not working, sir!" the assistant said, his voice only narrowly making it to Erik over the loud buzzing and constant repetition of the perilous message.

"Fire up the submarine!" Maxie ordered. "We're getting out of here," he followed, before turning to Erik. "I recommend you evacuate. Here's your last chance to join us. Accept and you can join my in the submarine. Refuse and you perish here."

"I'll never join you," Erik hissed.

"Then die!" Maxie passionately snapped, Erik had never seen the Magma leader show so much emotion. As the submarine plunged underwater, Splash leapt in after it, but was unable to dive under the water's surface himself. Erik was unsure what was holding the Gyarados back.

An explosion boomed overhead, some floors above where he now stood. Maxie was right, there was no escape. The way into the harbour had been destroyed by Splash as he escaped the Electrodes and the only way out was through the bay, but they were deep within the ocean's depths. It would be impossible for him to hold his breath for that long, even riding on Splash's back.

"Is this really the end?" he whispered, to both his team and himself. "I guess I have to hope Archie got out okay. Then he, Cecilia and May can continue this fight." He grabbed hold of Blaze's Pokeball. If he was going to die here today, he wanted to do it alongside his eldest friend. "Was everything we've been through for nothing. Honestly, what have I achieved? Magma and Rocket, Giovanni and Maxie. I've not even made a dent in their plans."

As his tears flowed freely down his face, the drops landing softly on Blaze's Pokeball, an enormous explosion devastated the area.


	26. Too Much Water

Chapter Twenty-Two - Too Much Water

"Why won't he let me help," spoke the irritable thoughts within May's head, as her Swellow cut through afternoon skies strewn with ominous grey clouds. The ocean below her lay darkened by the fading daylight as roaring waves crashed into one another. The sea was unsettled, and it wasn't difficult for May to see what was causing it.

May peered through the thick clouds she had concealed herself within to spot rock particles sent flying in all directions as a multitude of explosions shook the skies. Focusing her vision on the source, she managed to sight a partly submerged cave reacting as if one thousand Koffings had made their way inside and self-destructed in unison.

She had reached Sootopolis a few hours previously with a bittersweet taste on her tongue. On one hand, Erik had finally requested her help and let her in on his life, but on the other, she wasn't allowed to go with him. As her Swellow touched down into the midst of the open crater, buildings sprouting out from the clear white rocks around her, she had changed her mind.

Torturous thoughts had spent the flight from Lilycove to Sootopolis bubbling up inside her, culminating in an explosive reaction. Even if Erik wasn't going to let her come along, she would join the stubborn bozo in his adventure anyway, whether he liked it or not.

As her thoughts flicked and fluttered to how she had reached this point, three figures hovering from the cave's entrance caught her eye. They all appeared to be riding aback a flying Pokemon, rising from the exploding cavern towards where she lay in wait, hidden behind the clouds.

"Quiet," May whispered to her Swellow, making sure they remained unseen until she could identify the trio.

As the three loomed ever closer, she spotted a Fearow and two Golbats, what looked like a man in a suit riding atop the former, and both a Magma grunt and a female scientist on the latter. They soared to just below where May silently hovered, leaning over the edge of her Swellow to get a better look she spotted the scientist holding papers in his hand, turning them over to the man in the suit. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a spare pair of "Go-Goggles", strapping the device on and adjusting the zoom on the lenses so she could get a better picture.

The man had coal black hair atop an aging face with dark eyes. His attire consisted of a black suit with purple shirt and tie, a large letter "R" above his left breast. When the trio began speaking, May ordered her Swellow to lower itself so she could listen. She hoped that they would be too engrossed in their conversation to notice her presence above them.

"These are all the advanced technical designs from the base?" the man spoke, his voice ice-cold.

"Yes sir!" the scientist replied.

"Erm, boss, err.." the grunt began, stumbling over his words through pure fear. "Why did you blow up our base?"

"Do I pay you to ask questions? One more and you'll sink with it," he replied, no hint of emotion in his words.

"What do you need us to do now, Giovanni?" the scientist changed the subject. May could tell the woman was trying to keep her cool, but was just as afraid of the man as the grunt appeared to be.

"Now that any plans Magma have of turning against Team Rocket have been, shall we say, sunken, Maxie will have escaped in that submarine of his and be looking to release Groudon in a last desperate attempt to wrestle control of Hoenn from me. He will be walking into a trap, however, and I have people in place to ensure that he doesn't make it out of there alive. Any resistance to us will be too busy trying to take down Groudon, and fail, whilst we begin 'Operation: New Age'."

"I thought New Age was releasing Groudon?" the grunt blurted.

The man they called Giovanni mercilessly commanded his Fearow to ram its long beak through the grunt's Golbat, annihilating it in one hit and sending the Magma grunt plummeting into the ocean's depths.

"Any more questions?" Giovanni announced afterwards, to which the scientist shook her head. "Good, then take care of our new friend," he ordered, pointing towards May.

"Oh no," she whispered to her Swellow. "When did he realise we were here?" she followed as they took off into the skies, the Magma scientist in hot pursuit.

* * *

Another explosion rocked the building, as pieces of the harbour's roof fell from the ceiling and crashed into the surface next to Erik, who struggled desperately to think up an escape plan.

He had released Soar from his Pokeball, climbing onto the Latios's back and had attempted to fly back to the tunnel he had collapsed with Splash. To no avail. The metal door had remained slammed shut and no amount of energy blasts from Soar could change that.

His next move was to combine attacks from Splash, who had remained in the water's surface, and Soar against the roof, escaping through a hole. But again, their attacks weren't powerful enough to penetrate the mix of solid metals and concrete.

A further explosion boomed overhead, causing the walls around Erik to shake violently once more. More chunks of the ceiling fell, narrowly missing him as they smashed into one of the many crates which littered the bay. He had one final plan, one he was beyond terrified of attempting. There was only one attack he could think of which would be powerful enough to drill through the roof and give him a way of escape. But he had no choice, he was left to his last resort.

"I'm sorry," he shouted up to Soar, as he reached into his bag and pulled out a Megastone. "I can only hope that now we've bonded some more, we can control the effects."

An ear piercing screech echoed around the room, the sound as horrifying as all the explosions thus far combined into one. A dark shroud engulfed Soar once more, with menacing red orbs protruding out of the darkness after a few moments. As the black cloud cleared, Mega-Soar emerged, a face full of fury and hatred.

"Soar," Erik shouted up to his Pokemon. "Let's get out of here," he cautiously followed, attempting to sound hopeful.

Mega-Soar peered through crimson eyes at his trainer, but Erik saw no sign of his Pokemon within its gaze. The creature roared fiercely, the resulting tremors caused by the sound appeared to shake the very foundations of the planet.

"Soar!" Erik yelled, in a vain attempt to snap his Pokemon's soul back into the creature that now hovered above him. The Mega-Latios launched a stream of pure darkness from its gaping mouth, targeting Erik. He dived behind a crate, hoping the flimsy wooden box would save him from the devastating attack. Somehow, it did.

Shards of wood and stone flew in all directions as the dark attack collided with the contents within. Dozens of megastones that had resided within the box now exploded upon reaction with Mega-Soar's attack, protecting other stones which now rolled across the stone surface, free from the wooden cage they were trapped within.

Erik heard a roar from his left, turning his gaze to spot Splash bravely attempting to defend him. His Gyarados blasted a wave of aqua at the flying beast, but the attack ricocheted off of Mega-Soar as if the creature's skin was formed of titanium. The Mega-Latios spun deftly in the air, and prepared to launch an attack at its new target.

As Erik saw Splash's impending demise flash in his mind, he had to react rapidly.

He grabbed one of the megastones and launched it across the room. As soon as the stone impacted upon Splash's scaly surface, the Gyarados leapt out of the water and into the air in agony, Mega-Soar's dark attack colliding with a shroud of darkness which now engulfed the water-type.

Iconic crimson eyes were the first thing to emerge from the black cloud, shortly followed by a terrifying beast. Where Gyarados's skin was a blend of creamy yellow and aqua blue, the former colour had now been replaced by blood red pores and a black underbelly. The creature itself had doubled in size, and its fins almost quadrupled as a giant black crest placed itself atop the Gyarados's bulging head.

The two mega-evolutions locked themselves in a titanic battle, dark blasts of energy smashing into the cavern walls and roof, slicing whole through the rock. Erik released Blaze from his Pokeball for his own protection, as the two began to look for another way out.

Erik desperately clawed his way through shards of wood, stone and rock, as Blaze remained unaffected by contact with the megastones lying prone on the floor, having already been linked to one previously. Erik's attention was caught by his Blaziken suddenly pointing a finger upwards. Blaze had spotted a newly created hole in the roof from one of Mega-Splash's dark attacks. The chasm seemed to penetrate the cavern almost to the surface. It was a way of escape, if only Erik had a Pokemon he could fly out on.

A piercing scream erupted from Mega-Splash, the creature de-evolving after a vicious blow from Mega-Soar. Erik presumed that since the megastone had only just been linked to his Gyarados, either the effects didn't last as long, or he had been defeated in battle. Splash heaved and panted as he resumed his usual form, slowly sinking into the water's depths through exhaustion as Erik recalled him into his Pokeball.

Blaze released a fierce growl, and it didn't take Erik long to realise why. Mega-Soar had turned its attention back to Erik and his Blaziken.

A lone tear crept down Erik's face as he battled the inevitable within his mind, clutching Blaze's megastone. If he didn't use it, Mega-Soar would annihilate them both, but he struggled to bring himself to see his beloved friend within the dark form that would emerge from the resulting black cloud.

Blaze looked Erik in the eye, giving him a nod as if to say "it will be okay". Erik slowly pulled the stone from his pocket, and aimed it in Blaze's direction as the Mega-Latios launched an attack. Black energy collided with darkness as a cloud swallowed Blaze whole.

A creature flung itself at Mega-Soar from within the shadows, grappling onto the dragon and attempting to haul it back to the ground. The weakened Mega-Latios responded by attempting to crash into the roof with Mega-Blaze on its back, unsuccessfully. The fire type grabbed onto its foe's back with one hand and launched black flames seemingly from the palm of the other at Mega-Soar's head.

While a Blaziken mixed shades of lemon-yellow and rose-red, its mega-evolved form sported hues of scarlet-red and midnight-black. It again had bulged to twice its usual size, also, Erik noted, Mega-Blaze was surrounded by black fire, as if its own skin emitted dark flames.

Mega-Soar shook his flame-covered opponent from his back. As the Mega-Blaziken crashed to the surface, the impact forming a small crater in the stone surface. The weakened Mega-Latios attempted to escape, defeated in battle his only choice was to flee through the newly formed hole in the roof, travelling through at epic speeds, but Erik realised Mega-Blaze wasn't about to allow him to escape.

Mega-Blaze crouched down, preparing to leap into the air and through the hole after his opponent. Erik sprinted over to his Pokemon, latching onto his leg as soon as he jumped causing the two to soar through the hole together. He had never seen a Pokemon be able to leap higher than a human could, nevermind what Erik tentatively guessed was over thirty feet.

Soar had de-evolved, the Latios sprawled on the stone-tiled flooring of a corridor. Mega-Blaze landed neatly on the floor, sweeping his leg to the side and flinging his trainer into a wall. Erik crashed into the corridors side, spotting a Magma scientist further down the hallway who began fumbling around his pockets in horror at the sight of the Mega Pokemon before him.

Mega-Blaze glanced from side to side, deciding who was the biggest threat to his domination. With Soar too weak to move on the ground, Erik's oldest Pokemon targeted him, the black flames protruding from his skin flaring up as if someone had added fuel to the fire.

Suddenly a Pokeball flew through the air, honing in on Mega-Blaze. Erik noticed this one was different to usual, instead of the crimson and white casing, this Pokeball featured a violet-coloured upper half, with two red circles bulging out of the purple top. The capsule opened, sucking Mega-Blaze inside, then closing. As the lock on it sealed with a click, the circles turned to yellow, flashing once each second like a warning beacon.

"What was.." Erik began, before he noticed the scientist strolling over to him, quivering as he moved.

"M-Master Ball," the Magma member replied, pushing up his glasses which had fallen slightly with a finger. "Mark II."

"Mark what?" Erik replied as he recalled Soar into his own Pokeball, then climbed to his feet, arching out his back in an attempt to relieve the pain.

"Maxie told us to think of ways to control and contain Mega-Pokemon. The Master Ball was our plan to do so. Mark I was a failure, it captured normal Pokemon with a one-hundred percent success rate, but had no effect on Megas. Mark II worked, but not as planned. It acts the same way Mark I did but with the added effect of capturing Megas, only it just contains them like a prison until they de-evolve. We were working on Mark III, which would have caught a Mega and put it under the user's control, but with the added bonus that the Pokemon inside would never de-evolve, but the plans were stolen when the facility self-dest-"

"Alright, alright," Erik interrupted, as the two circles on the Master Ball changed from yellow to green.

"Oh, that means your Pokemon has de-evolved within," the scientist responded excitedly, as if he had finally been able to successfully test his invention.

"If you stop talking for a second you'll see the place is blowing up around us!" Erik barked whilst releasing Blaze from within the Master Ball, before recalling his Blaziken into its actual Pokeball.

"Oh, sorry, I-"

"Which way out?!"

"This way, not far now. Actually, I was on my way out when-"

"Enough. Go. Move!" Erik responded, following the scientist who broke into a sprint.

It wasn't far to the exit, which had been blown to smithereens, making it easy for Erik and the scientist to depart. As they floated off on the back of the scientist's Wailmer, Erik spun around to view the facility. Mega-Splash's attack had carved through the stone almost all the way to the surface. He could see how lucky he had been, as lava spewed throughout the hideout from burst pipes. Archie and any Aqua members were nowhere to be seen, presumably buried in the rubble that was still exploding every few seconds.

"Interestingly," the scientist began. "We used some of the rock that came from space to design the Master Ball. The combined effects of the material and the Pokeball design allowed us to-"

"Do you have a Golbat?" Erik interrupted.

"Why, yes, right here in fact," the scientist grabbed the second Pokeball on his belt. "Interesting story how I caught this, I-" he began, before Erik snatched the Golbat from his hands, releasing it and flying off on the back of the creature, back towards Lilycove where he could heal his team.

"Oh dear, excuse me, you forgot to return my Master Ball," the scientist's trailing voice followed Erik as he escaped the neverending chatter. Maxie and Magma could wait, he had no clue as to where they would be right now, and his seventh badge beckoned from the shores of Mossdeep City, across the ocean.

* * *

The island rose out of the ocean before him. From atop Soar he could see it all, from the gym in the north of the town, a huge space station at the island's highest point, and a Pokemon centre directly in the middle, which he now aimed to bring his weary team to. The city's peaceful isolation also neglected it of Magma members, meaning he could truly focus on the one thing he had traveled to Mossdeep City for.

It had been a tough five days of training, battling surfers and swimmers throughout the vast bodies of water which lay between Lilycove to Mossdeep, down to Ever Grande City and across to Slateport. The oceanic square was alive with trainers and wild Pokemon, with the gigantic white crater of Sootopolis sitting at the mid-point.

Erik decided that he would stay the night at the Pokemon centre, then proceed to win his seventh badge in the morning. With Soar and Splash becoming powerful members of his team, Leaf, Dancer and Blaze stronger than ever and the new addition, Ghost, chosen for its advantage of the local psychic types, he was full of confidence.

He smiled at the thought of the new addition to his team. Erik and his Shuppet had formed a strong bond during their training, Ghost's duality reminded him of his own, friendly and kind on the surface, but they both had a darkness residing within.

Erik's mind trawled to some of the other new captures the last couple of days. Ghost had weakened a Sealeo within the ice-cold Shoal Cave and Erik had named it Seal. He had also returned to Rustboro City, visiting his friend Mr. Stone to gather information on what Magma planned next. Unfortunately, the president knew nothing worth while. However, Steven's father was able to resurrect the fossil gifted to him by Cecilia, the scientists within the Devon Corporation reviving an Anorith, which he named Claw.

Sandy beaches morphed into patches of grass which then turned to cobbled streets and hillsides that climbed the island to the station at the peak. Erik's thoughts snapped back to the present as Soar landed upon the grassy knoll leading up to the city. A good night's sleep was much needed for his team, the psychic-type gym beckoned.

* * *

Enormous metal doors slid open with a sharp creak as Erik and his team strolled up to the gym. A gaping blackness filled the doorway, as if all the light had been sucked out of the building's interior.

Blaze stood by his side, his secondary type was fighting, leaving him at risk to psychic attacks favoured by the Pokemon awaiting them. The rest of his team walked behind them, Leaf was also at a disadvantage in this gym, Splash and Dancer remained neutral, their typings unaffected either way. Erik's trump cards hovered behind the group. Soar was a dual psychic and dragon type, which made any mind attacks ineffective against him, whereas Ghost's typings put her at a succinct advantage.

Erik stepped inside, his six Pokemon remaining in close proximity as they entered the darkness. He spotted two figures looming in the distance, edging closer towards him, his Pokemon tensing in unison as a wave of apprehension flowed through him. They froze in their tracks.

Thick white gas poured from the walls surrounding them, brightening up where they stood before engulfing them in a thin cloud with a mould-like smell. The smoke swirled around Erik and his Pokemon, before dissipating suddenly into miniscule vents on the floors.

"You're in our world now," a frail voice called over to Erik as haze formed inside his mind, his vision blurring.

"What is your name," a female joined in. "I am Patricia, and my friend is Joshua." Both voices sounded emotionless, like husks or robots attempting to communicate.

"E-Erik.." he managed to reply, before his vision slowly came back to him. He was in a bright room, with four walls all painted in white. He couldn't decide what the floor was made of, but it was a sickly-green in colour, as the two gym trainers loitered ahead of him.

"We can manipulate our world however we want, just by speaking," Josh followed, the young boys eye's were pupil-less. His pale skin matched the white walls and his thick purple hair looked as if it hadn't been brushed in years. Erik looked to the girl, Patricia, noticing that she was his twin. Erik felt uncomfortable in the twins' glare, their matching soulless eyes penetrating right through him.

"Let us show you," Patricia followed, a mischievous grin lighting up her otherwise emotionless features. "Time to expand the room!" she bellowed, as the room stretched out before Erik's eyes, distance growing between himself and the two trainers before him.

"And let's turn these lights out!" Joshua followed, as the lights around the room shut off one by one until they reached Erik. The small bulb above his head remained on, the only light in the room centred on himself.

"Go Kadabra!" Joshua shouted once more from across the room, Erik nodding to Ghost in response, his Shuppet cautiously floating through the light and into the darkness. Both Erik and Ghost were wary of Joshua's Kadabra concealing itself within the dark corridor, threatening to ambush the Shuppet at any given moment.

"Light that Shuppet!" Joshua continued ordering, and the room obliged. A blindingly bright spotlight shone on Ghost from the other side of the room, following the Shuppet wherever it dared move.

Erik peered into the darkness, seeing it distort. The plain blackness cut strange shapes as a psychic pulse plowed its way through, entering the light and smashing into Ghost. He recoiled at the blow, he and his Shuppet had bonded well during their ocean training, and the pain of the attack transcended from Pokemon to trainer.

Another pulse distorted the darkness, but this time Ghost saw it coming. Erik's Shuppet faded slightly, allowing the attack to phase through her as Erik ducked to avoid the attack furrowing its way down the narrow corridor. Ghost launched herself down the room, the spotlight following her as if it were attached to the Shuppet.

Ghost collided with Joshua's Kadabra, both Pokemon stumbling backwards before resuming their conflict. Psychic pulses collided with spectral blasts in an even clash, a mind blast from the Kadabra had no effect against the ghost-type, but a telekinetic attack, using objects Joshua shouted and summoned into the area, were crashing into Ghost before she had time to react.

"A television!" Joshua screamed, his Kadabra launching the plasma screen at Erik's Pokemon, controlling it with his mind. "A chair!" he followed, with the bellowed object materialising into the spotlight's glare, before slamming itself forcefully into Ghost and disappearing into the darkness.

"Now finish her, Kadabra!" the gym trainer ordered his psychic type, who obliged without question. The Kadabra strolled over to the Shuppet's weakened form, and appeared to gloat as it lifted both arms above its head and made a sound which resembled laughter.

"Come on Ghost!" Erik shouted down the corridor, the exertion causing him to feel dizzy. Whatever was in the gas he was sprayed with had weakened him.

Another light joined the blinding spotlight, causing Erik to shield his eyes. He waited a few seconds before removing his arm from across his face, to reveal the new light had vanished and in its place floated a Banette. Ghost had evolved.

The Banette vanished despite the spotlight thrusting its gleam upon it. Kadabra hopelessly launched pulses in all directions, in a desperate attempt to save itself. It failed. Ghost appeared suddenly behind it, smothering it with spectral acid and watching her foe disintegrate in front of her, the Banette's cold blood-red eyes lighting up with glee.

"How?!" Joshua screamed. "The gas is supposed to make you and your Pokemon delusional!"

"You're giving away the secret!" Patricia followed, strands of stress in her tone. "Send out your Medicham and trick them some more!"

"Okay, time for a room full of lights so your Banette cannot vanish!" he said, the room immediately responding around them. The dark narrow corridor morphed into a square-shaped area completely lit up by candles attached to the walls. A warmth filled the room from the small fires, and Ghost found herself unable to vanish in their glow.

The Medicham launched itself into the air, slamming a foot into the Banette. Erik was taken aback, fighting type moves usually couldn't hit ghost-typed Pokemon, the room must've been having this effect.

"Ghost," Erik shouted to his Pokemon from across the room. "Blow out the candles, use the darkness to your advantage!"

The Banette complied, speedily floating to each and every lit candle and blowing it out as if they were atop a birthday cake. Medicham's attempts to stop her were in vain, the dual fighting and psychic type creature tried to follow the Banette into the newly formed darkness of each corner of the room, but the ghost-type vanished in the black.

The room lay in a shroud of darkness as the final flame was blown out, and now Ghost was completely invisible, able to use the dark as a cloak to silently attack the vulnerable Medicham.

"Light! Light!" Joshua bellowed in a tone full of panic and fear. Bright lights appeared on both the ceiling and the walls, revealing Medicham's lifeless form and Ghost hovering over her defeated foe.

"I know!" Joshua roared, Patricia jumping slightly at the sudden sound next to her. "I will use your own trick against you!" he followed, holding up his final Pokeball. He threw the capsule into the air, a Claydol appearing from within. "I will now hide my Pokemon in a box!" he bellowed, a large cardboard box covering his Pokemon at his words, the room however, remained unchanged. "And here are many other boxes!" he followed, with several cardboard boxes forming inside the room, before all of them switched places with each other as if they were being teleported into different locations around the room. "One of these ten boxes contains my Claydol, the other nine have traps in them. Good luck!" he finished, a menacing laugh echoing around the room.

Ghost flew over to the first box in her vision and rammed into it.

The empty box fell over and vanished, but a trap did indeed await her. The Claydol sprung out of its box, attacking the distracted Banette and rapidly going back into its hiding place. As soon as the Claydol entered its box, the cardboard objects began switching locations once more. With nine left, and all in newly randomised locations, the weakened Ghost would have to make a lucky guess, and she would only survive one or two more ambushes.

Again Ghost rammed into a box, and again she was caught in the Claydol's trap. She tried a different tactic the third time, blasting away a box with a ball of spectral energy, but again the cardboard container was empty. She spun around expecting an attack from the Claydol which never came, until a pulse of psychic energy smashed into her back, shattering the life from inside her as she crashed into the ground.

"Ghost!" Erik wailed, as his new friend crumbled into dust, her spirit returning to the graveyard he had found her within. He considered his next move carefully, seven boxes remained and the Claydol could be hiding in the midst of any of them. An idea sprung to life inside his mind, as he threw Splash's Pokeball into the air.

"You can read my thoughts, can't you Splash. Unlike these fake psychics," Erik growled to his Gyarados.

"Hey!" Patricia screeched. "Who you calling fake?!"

Splash roared, and prepared to unleash a huge wave of water. Channelling his energy and harnessing the water that housed itself within his huge frame, he summoned the large wave which washed away all of the cardboard boxes at once, trapping the Claydol within one and drowning it within. Joshua had been beaten, but as Erik knew, the gym rookies usually saved the best trainer until last.

"Joshua is weak," Patricia began, her voice returning to the toneless husk it once was. "I will defeat you so our leaders don't have to."

"Leaders? Plural?" Erik asked, he didn't realise he would have to fight more than one gym leader here.

"Tate and Liza are our leaders." Patricia followed, with no hint of a tone. "But I will destroy you. Starmie, go." The girl threw a Pokemon into the air, the water type flopping helplessly on the ground.

Erik was stunned, how could she hope to win with a creature who didn't seem to be able to function outside of water. He recalled his Gyarados into its Pokeball and sent out Dancer in his place, the electric type advantage would score him an easy victory against the first of Patricia's Pokemon.

"Ha!" Patricia said, however, there was no hint of humour within her voice. "You have fallen into my trap. Fill this room with water like a fish tank!" she ordered, as the room responded to her words. Water began rapidly pouring into the room from the walls, so quickly that Dancer didn't have time to react as the Pikachu was swept under the water.

"Have a snorkel," Patricia smirked, the breathing device appearing in front of Erik who attached it to his face. The duo of gym trainers doing the same as a piece spawned in front of each of the two.

Erik quickly clipped the sides of the snorkel into place, he inhaled deeply as an oxygen tank formed on his back, relaxing himself as air once again filled his lungs. He suddenly gasped in horror as the Starmie floated around Dancer, spinning circles around Erik's Pokemon who was drowning.

Erik attempted to scream out to his Pokemon, but all that came out of his breathing device were streams of bubbles as Dancer began sinking further and further towards the ground. He had realised that the room was a trick, the two gym trainers were able to manipulate the room as Erik and his Pokemons' minds were weakened by the gas they had inhaled. They were actually in the same plain dark room as they had been when they entered the gym, but Dancer believed she was drowning. It was true psychological warfare.

"Dancer," Erik thought to himself. "This is a trick, you are not in water, you are not drowning. We have constantly proven ourselves to each other throughout our journey, now I need you to trust me with your life. Can you do that for me, my friend?"

Dancer heard his thoughts, the bond between the two of them proved strong enough to save her life. The Pikachu's eyes shot open, full of fury that she had been tricked so easily. The Starmie hovered above her, before being blasted out of the air by an electrical charge, the room's illusions disappearing around them as Erik and his team finally truly believed that it did not exist.

Patricia sent out a Grumpig as her final Pokemon, Erik recalling Dancer and letting out Soar. The Latios was a psychic type, so he would be able to see through any more deceptions the two fake psychics pulled. The room was completely dark now, and entirely featureless.

"You have a Latios?!" Patricia gasped. "But that's a legendary psychic Pokemon, how did someone like you get a Latios?!"

Erik ignored her, he had her teetering over the edge and he knew it. Now he just had to apply the final blow and send the strange girl tumbling down.

Soar let out a blast of pure energy, combining both the power of a dragon and master psychic, frying the Grumpig within.

It hit Erik then. The Pokemon he had faced in this gym were weak, but the trickery had made them appear strong. In fact, it was the psychological attacks that had done all the damage to his team.

"You may have defeated us," Patricia began, her face a scowl of anger. "But Tate and Liza are much better psychics than we'll ever be. Even your Latios won't be able to see through their powers."

He had defeated the two trainers, but what awaited him now was a double battle with gym leaders far more powerful than Patricia and Joshua. He was also certain that they would have true psychic powers, and although he had seen through the initial deceptions, his mind was still weak from the gas. He had already lost Ghost, and felt within his heart that another one of his close friends would be lost before the day was done, as both Tate and Liza strolled into view. They were not even giving him an opportunity to heal his weakened team at the Pokemon Centre.

For the first time in a while, Erik felt genuine doubt, he may not be able to win this battle.


	27. Goodbye

Chapter Twenty-Three - Goodbye

The twins' looks were identical. Both brother and sister sported deep navy blue hair tied up in a bun as they judged Erik with two pairs of piercing blue eyes. They wore robes dyed a royal purple that hung from their small figures, the clothing far too large for the siblings as their hands disappeared within the sleeves.

"Hello challenger," a soulless high pitched voice called from across the room. It was the female, Liza, who spoke first.

"You have defeated our minions," Tate followed, his voice a much deeper pitch, but still featured the same monotone.

"Now you must vanquish us!" The twins bellowed in unison, before they relaxed and quietened their voices once more. "This room is actually a cave," they spoke, as if they were one and the same. As soon as the words exited their mouths, the gym's interior lit up ever so slightly. Dozens of glowing crystals of purple and blue emitted both a faint glow which illuminated the room, and slight humming noise which filled with with an atmosphere. As the mysterious gems floated cooly around the room, Erik noticed they were at a height with himself.

A single Pokeball rested upon each of the twins' belts. The capsules levitated into the air as soon as Erik had laid eyes on them, hovering slowly across the cave's rocky surface and releasing their inhabitants onto the battlefield. A Solrock emerged alongside a Lunatone.

Tate's Solrock floated to the left, and Liza's Lunatone to the right, the rock and psychic dual typed Pokemon hovering to the wall, which changed colour according to the corresponding Pokemon's skin. The gym leaders' Pokemon carefully sank into the cave walls, camouflaging themselves.

Erik knew Splash would have an easy time against the rock types, his Gyarados could aim water blasts at the walls and flush them out. He also knew that Soar could see through psychic tricks, this would be easier than he first thought.

"Splash!" Erik roared, confidence flowing through his veins. "Wash-" he started, before suddenly stopping mid-sentence. A few of the crystals lit up, burning so brightly that he almost had to shield his eyes to avoid their glare. The gems suddenly spurred into life, crashing down towards the surface as they targeted his Pokemon.

A crystal crashed into Splash. The Gyarados roared in pain at the impact as the gem firmly lodged itself in his back, the top half jutting out of his scaly skin. Soar's troubles were reminiscent of his partner, the Latios deftly dodged some of the crystals aimed at him, the ones that missed smashing into a plethora shards on the solid ground below as a persistent few implanted themselves into Soar's back.

"The crystals of truth," Tate and Liza echoed one another in tones devoid of emotion. "The crystals will reveal the truth of your life." The duo pointed towards Erik's Pokemon, Tate towards Splash and Liza towards Soar. "The truth," they repeated.

Erik remained clueless as to the duos words and intentions, until he turned his gaze back to his Pokemon, nearly tripping over himself in both shock and horror. Soar and Splash had both turned into their mega-evolved forms, spun around with the crystals still jutting out of their backs, and were now staring through crimson eyes at their trainer. Erik began to back away slowly, before walking into something behind him. Mega-Blaze.

Leaf and Dancer clung to Erik's side as he grabbed the Masterball. He launched it through the air, the capsule homing in towards its target, but the device was swatted away by another Pokemon. Ice.

"You now see the truth," Tate and Liza spoke, their voices echoing around the cave. "We see you for who you really are, Erik. You bring only death and pain. And in the future, you will be the harbinger of untold destruction and suffering."

"Stop this!" Erik yelled. He felt himself shaking as fear flowed through his body, freezing him in place.

Ice barred frosty fangs at Erik, growling viciously as he was joined by the others. String and Speedy desperately held onto each other as they dangled over the edge of a large hole in front of him, the gaping darkness seemingly never ending. Gully and Ziggy attempted to save the two bug-types, until a human figure kicked the Silcoon and Cascoon over the edge, then threw both Gully and Ziggy to their demise. It took Erik only a few moments to recognise the human as himself.

Roller appeared next, rolling desperately away from his human pursuer, but the Gulpin wasn't fast enough. The ghostly apparition of Erik picked Roller up by his tail and flung him into the abyss, Ali and Gu throwing themselves after Roller in a hopeless attempt to save their friend.

"Stop!" Erik roared as loud as he could. He could feel his heart breaking at the scenes, but his desperate pleas for mercy were in vain. Ninja was next to fall, the Nincada flashing the real Erik a look of panic and despair before the apparition threw him into the pit, wordless and emotionless. It was as if all the figure lived for was destroying the lives of those around him, just as Tate and Liza had alluded to.

Erik had seen enough. He grabbed his doppelganger and threw the ghost into the pit, hoping it would stop the visions. As his apparition tumbled into the darkness, shadowy figures became apparent within the abyss. Erik saw many familiar faces. Bunny, Lady, Glutton, Steel and Bounce all disappeared, their faces the embodiment of fear. They were replaced by looks of sadness and pain, Sunny, Snappy, Cotton, Pip and Dive all bidding their trainer a final farewell. Finally, anger flashed in the eyes of the remaining friends he had lost, full of spite for the trainer that had cost them their lives. Horde, Fury, Warrior and Ghost had all lived peaceful lives before Erik had forced himself to be their trainer.

Ice strutted up alongside Erik. He moved to stroke his Mightyena's fur, but his old friend only flashed him a face of regret. Instead of saying goodbye or showing his old trainer any further sign of acknowledgement, Ice leapt into the pit. A weak howl was the last thing Erik heard from his old friend, as if the Mightyena was begging for mercy himself.

Hearing cries of pain behind him, Erik turned to see the three mega-evolved Pokemon screeching in agony, as the power of the megastones ripped them apart internally. Next to them he saw a vision of Dancer on a stage, performing elegant pirouettes and other spectacular moves in front of legions of adoring fans.

Behind them, just in front of the two gym leaders, Erik saw three further figures. These, however, were mere shadows rather than visions. Two human shapes formed, a man and a woman, and beside them was a small figure which looked to be a Pokemon about half their size. They all felt very familiar, like he was looking at three close friends. These visions didn't just look different to the others, they felt different too, as if he were no longer looking at hauntings from his past.

"What you see is your very soul," Tate and Liza spoke again. "And it has defeated you."

Erik broke down on the floor, torturous thoughts and memories flooding his mind. Friends lost and others in horrific pain, all because of him.

He felt a soft hand placed on his shoulder. He lifted his tear-strewn face to find himself locking eyes with Leaf. The Vileplume smiled, and Erik read her expression. It was as if Leaf was saying to him, "I'm glad you found me."

Before him everything changed, Blaze and Dancer were collapsed on the floor with a crystal protruding out of each. Soar barely held himself aloft as multiple shards of smashed crystal planting themselves within his skin and Splash was on the verge of defeat.

Erik reacted quickly, he couldn't lose anyone else. He withdrew Splash into his Pokeball and entered Leaf into battle, the Vileplume springing into action.

Leaf shot out leaves as sharp as blades which cut into the rocky walls, in an attempt to unearth the leaders' Pokemon within. One of the leaves cut into something living, as the Lunatone emerged from the wall, Soar following up with a blast of energy which Liza's Pokemon narrowly avoided, returning fire by firing large rocks at its aggressors. The Latios dodged the stones aimed at him, flying high up to the cave's roof almost out of reach. Soar's escape left Leaf vulnerable, with only one Pokemon to aim at a group of boulders crashed into her. She struggled back to her feet, but knowing she was Erik's last hope the Vileplume managed to haul her body upwards, until she was blasted by a wave of fire. The Solrock had emerged.

Soar saw his partner in trouble and cut through the air, swivelling out of the way of more rocks headed in his direction to save Leaf, but it was too late.

A further rock hit the Vileplume, followed by another blast of flames. Leaf slouched to her feet, and looked at her trainer, then smiled. The look on her face was genuine as her friendly eyes lit up and matched her warm smile. Erik attempted to read her expression once more, trying to uncover the thoughts underneath. He didn't have to read Leaf's mind, his friend's smiling eyes said the words to him. "Thank you. You've made my life worth living."

"No!" Erik screamed as the Solrock landed the finishing blow on Leaf, her lifeless body slumping to the ground as Soar scolded both Tate and Lizas' weakened Pokemon with a final blast of energy.

Tears flowed freely down Erik's young face, he had lost yet another friend after seeing all his others perish before him for a second time.

"Strange," Tate and Liza spoke in unison. "You have beaten us."

"I don't care!" Erik roared.

"Your reaction is natural. Every other gym is just a battle between trainers and their Pokemon. Our gym is different, we test your mind. We show you your soul and let you battle yourself instead. Somehow, you and your Vileplume overcame it."

Erik had heard enough, he stormed out of the gym without grabbing the seventh badge. What did fighting mean if all it resulted in was the death of his friends, just for a small piece of metal.

* * *

Ocean waves crashed against the sand-strewn shore as water splashed up and wet Erik's feet. He twirled the metallic symbol in between his fingers, a purple loveheart with a hole in middle.

Liza had sprinted after him as he exited the gym, apologising to him for the loss of Leaf and had handed him the badge personally. Erik headed to the beach thereafter, resting on the shore as the sun rose to the highest point in the sky, as memories of all the good times he had spent with Leaf flowed through his mind.

The Oddish he had collided with alongside Wally was unable to take the offensive in a battle, only able to defend herself using a variety of spores in order to confuse her opponent or force them into a deep slumber. Leaf had evolved into a Gloom, and there she had learnt to attack Pokemon by targeting them with more aggressive spores which latched onto a foe, sapping their health. Then finally she evolved once more into a Vileplume with the help of one of the alien rocks. Erik had spent many a day by her side, the two inseparable at times along with Blaze, Dancer and Ice. Her loss felt to him as painful as his Mightyena's had.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot out of the ocean like a beacon, its lime green hue shooting into the clear midday sky. The bright light was quickly followed by a huge roar, the sound echoing across the ocean, rolling off the waves until it hit Mossdeep Island.

"Groudon…" Erik whispered, noting the beam emanated from Route 128. Magma must have found the ancient Pokemon's resting place and be in the attempt of awakening the creature. He had to stop Maxie before they unleashed a devastating power upon Hoenn that they couldn't control nor hold their own against.

He climbed to his feet and sprinted towards the Pokemon Centre. He hastily healed his team and withdrew both Seal and Happy from storage. He would need another water Pokemon if he were to dive into the ocean's depths and find the ancient cave, a Sealeo would know how. Happy was a sentimental choice, he wanted a Gloom on his team.

Erik stormed out of the Pokemon Centre, pushing aside the sliding door and stepped onto the soft grass outside. A Swellow slammed down on the ground before him, the large bird proceeding to lower its back and allow the two women on top to jump off.

"Did you see that beam of light?!" May said whilst disembarking. Once she had climbed off her Swellow she ran to Erik and threw both arms around his neck, softly planting a kiss on his lips.

"We located Groudon not long before it happened," Cecilia forced her way into the reunion, pushing the conversation straight to the business at hand.

"Where abouts on Route 128 is he?" Erik asked, as May rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart race back and forth.

"Under a network of caves, in an underground cavern. Tremors over hundreds of years should've caused the tunnels to collapse in on themselves, the place should be inaccessible" Cecilia replied, a flicker of indomitable determination flashing in her eyes with each word.

"Which is why Maxie stole the submarine and attached a drill," Erik realised.

"We met a man named Wallace in Sootopolis," Cecilia continued. "He gave us two sets of scuba gear and advised we ride aback a Pokemon as we make our way through."

"We?" Erik questioned. "No, I go in alone, it's far too dangerous."

"I can handle myself," Cecilia snapped.

"I know you can, which is why I need you to remain outside. You can cut off Magma if they attempt to escape, monitor the situation and only if I really need the backup, then you come down with me."

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Cecilia agreed, her tense body language relaxing slightly. "And May?" she asked Erik, as the woman in question pushed herself back from him.

"There's two sets of scuba gear, so I'm going with him," May answered, in a tone that brooked no argument.

"May, no-" Erik attempted to convince her.

"You listen here, Erik. You always leave me out. Well this time I'm coming with you. You will need a guide through the caves and I have spent hours memorising the location by looking at the maps. I'm coming, and that's final."

"Fine, but only if you leave as soon as we reach the cave."

"We'll see," May said, her arms folded as she pierced Erik's stubborn stance with eyes like daggers.

* * *

The trio flew atop Soar until they reached a small island of sand, in the shape of a ring. Erik and May left Cecilia atop the sand, equipped their scuba gear, and dived into the ocean, the former clinging onto Splash and the latter onto Seal.

Plunging into the depths, fierce currents threatened to sweep both Erik and May into rocks sharply pointed like blades all around them, but both Splash and Seal remained strong enough to emerge victorious from the battle with the sea. The two water Pokemon swept through the water like a hot knife through butter, aiming towards a gaping hole in the wall that had been carved out by Maxie's submarine.

Erik was shocked by the damage the vehicle had caused. Where once was a clear network of caves and strong rock walls which survived the batterings of strong currents, now remained a series of holes which lead in a straight line through. Seal and Splash glided through Maxie's carved trail, before swimming sharply upwards, exiting the series of caves and emerging in a cavern. The Magma submarine lay beside them, as a large cave entrance hung in front of the duo. Water became sand before sand became rock as both Erik and May dismounted their Pokemon and now pondered whether to head inside or not.

"Time for you to go back," Erik ordered May, who stoutly refused.

"I'm coming with you!" she insisted, stamping a foot on the ground. "And that's final mister!"

"It's dangerous inside, when Groudon is released the whole cave could come crashing down on us, I'm afraid to even go in myself."

"I don't care. If you go in, I'm coming with you."

"Then I'm staying out here," Erik finished, folding his arms in steadfast refusal.

"Hello, Erik," called a man from inside the cavern. He slowly approached them as Erik tried to make out his features. He wore the clothing of a Magma grunt, but his crimson robe concealed a more menacing shirt underneath. A heavy hood masked his face, making it hard for Erik to distinguish who hid underneath.

"You Magma or Rocket?" Erik replied, sighting the black and purple undershirt with a large letter 'R' sewn in above the man's left breast.

"Rocket," he replied, a smile lighting up the dark shroud of his face. "So you came after all."

"I'm not going inside, I know you plan to make sure no one inside gets out."

"Oh that's not my job," the man smirked. "That's Wally's." The man noticed Erik's expression change from stubbornness to shock, and immediately continued. "You heard me. When you refused the great Giovanni, he devised a new plan. To kill Wally's Ralts and harden the child's spirit, he would be the new protege, and it would be his job to make sure Groudon is released and trap Magma inside once he is."

"What have you done..." Erik growled.

"Nothing. This is your fault, Erik. And everything that happens from now on. Is." The man strutted away once he had finished, entering the submarine and preparing his escape.

"What now?" May asked, noting Erik's silence.

"We have no choice. We stop Magma and save Wally."

* * *

Traversing the ancient cavern had proved treacherous, the further Erik and May trawled, the more the intense heat heightened. Beads of sweat trickled down Erik's face as his nostrils were filled with smells of lava and brimstone. Bubbling lava, screeches and roars could be heard ahead, as he clasped Blaze's Pokeball in his hand.

They had been swarmed by a horde of Golbats as they entered the cave, Erik had captured one and named it "Bat" before Dancer and Swampert partnered together to fight them off. A number of Magma grunts had attacked them mercilessly, mustering all their might as the duo edged closer and closer to Groudon. The implosion of Magma's hideout had left dwindled their numbers. Erik had heard whisperings that almost a quarter of their remaining force was in this cavern, and although there appeared to be various passages and pathways through that Magma forces could be hidden within, he had only seen a few of the grunts.

The sweltering heat reached its climax as Erik and May rounded a corner. Cracks ran down the ancient stone walls as steam rose up from similar scars in the cobbled ground. At the end of the corridor awaited a Magma grunt, his thick red robe boiling him within; Grant looked like he was roasting inside an oven.

"You..." Grant growled, taking the hood off of his drenched head. "I'm under orders to not allow anyone passed!"

Erik reached for Dancer's Pokeball as Grant's Golbat emerged to oppose him, but May laid her hand upon his wrist to stop him.

"It's okay," she said, flashing him a sweet smile. "Save your Pokemon for their leader, I'll beat him for you."

"Catch me up when you're finished with him," Erik replied, flashing Grant a scowl before strolling by him, the grunt too distracted by the battle now raging beyond him to stop Erik.

Scorching heat blasted Erik as he took the next step, it was as if he had just walked into a furnace. The cave's lowest level was a huge circular room, with walls of brimstone covered by steam which rose fiercely from cracks in the cobbled floors. A menacing pit of lava bubbled and spat molten flakes at the far end of the open room, housing the largest Pokemon Erik had ever seen. Groudon.

The titan was encased in stone, as it had been for hundreds or maybe even thousands of years. A demonic smile painted its cloud-white lower jaw, but the rest of the beast's gigantic frame was ruby-red, covered by coal-black stripes. Groudon's huge claws were the size of Erik himself as large, sharp spikes lined its skin.

"Don't worry, I haven't awoken him yet," Maxie said, the Magma leader loitered by the side of the pool, the ruby red orb he had stolen remained firmly grasped in his right hand. Mylos stood stoically beside his superior.

"Where's Wally?!" Erik demanded, feeling himself shaking as he spoke. Mylos laughed harshly.

"My boy, I'm afraid you have been tricked," Maxie replied cooly, a smirk belying his otherwise calm features.

"What do you mean?!"

"Oh not by us," Maxie replied, holding a hand up in hope it would quell Erik's rage. "It was Team Rocket's ploy to lure you in, they couldn't find Wally anywhere. They knew that you cared for the child, and if they made you believe that he was helping us, then you'd galavant in here without a thought for the risks involved. It seems they were correct in their assumption."

"Why do they want me in here so badly?" Erik said, calming slightly.

"They think that Groudon will kill us all!" Mylos roared. "But I know Maxie can control him."

"He's right," Maxie added. "The writings say that whoever awakens Groudon using the red orb will gain control over the Pokemon. With the power of Groudon I can take the fight to Team Rocket and stop 'New Age'."

"You're crazy," Erik replied. "No, wait, just desperate," he corrected himself.

"Now I can't be interrupted whilst I do this, otherwise I won't be able to control Groudon. Mylos, keep Erik occupied."

"Yes boss," the admin replied in his gruff voice, marching forward at his leader's command.

"Stop!" a voice called from behind them, May had entered the room. Grant sped out in front of her, running to his superiors and cowering behind them.

"May," Erik shouted up to her, as she gleefully skipped down towards him. "Your Pokemon still able to fight?"

"Yep."

"Then Mylos is all yours. He's a lot stronger than Grant but you only need to hold him off whilst I take down Maxie and get that red orb off him."

"Okay. But what do you plan to do with that red orb."

"Use it ourselves."

"Wha-" May screamed.

"You don't even know how-" Mylos echoed, but both were silenced when Maxie raised a hand once more.

"Battle me for that right, Erik," the Magma leader demanded, before taking off his glasses and using his fingernail to remove some of the casing on the side. Revealing a miniature megastone underneath. "And this time I won't hold back!" he roared, his composure vanishing as Maxie became as furious as the lava behind him.

A Mightyena was his first Pokemon, but Erik knew his opponent was saving the megastone infused Pokemon until last. He sent Happy into the fray.

Maxie's Mightyena mercilessly leapt at the Gloom, wrapping fangs around her which suddenly became encased in flames. Like Ice's ice fangs, this Mightyena could summon fire into his teeth. Happy was defeated with ease, her frail body tossed into the lava like an offering to the ancient Pokemon.

"Blaze," Erik shouted, his Pokemon strolling onto the battlefield shortly after. The Blaziken sprang into life, launching two powerful kicks in quick succession at the Mightyena, who retaliated once more with fangs of flame, sinking strong fangs into Blaze's fur.

A screech of pain erupted from Blaze's mouth, but as the fire around Mightyena's teeth surfaced, the Blaziken absorbed the flames, to his opponent's dismay.

Maxie's Pokemon shrank back, and Blaze grabbed the opportunity. He smacked a foot into the Mightyena, forcing it backwards as the Blaziken launched a blast of fire at his foe then finally another kick. Maxie's Pokemon collapsed to its knees, but Blaze wasn't finished. Erik's Pokemon hoisted the dark-type into the air, and launched his foe into the pit of lava below, joining Happy in a mutual demise.

Erik was confused by Blaze's actions. His Blaziken had acted relentlessly and without remorse, it seemed to him as if his previous mega-evolution had allowed a darkness to enter him, leaving a permanent black mark on his soul. Maxie's next Pokemon, a Weezing, was engulfed by flames which seared through its shell, igniting the poison underneath, causing the Pokemon to self-combust and explode. Blaziken was swept backwards by the detonation, smashing into the cobbled floor behind him.

"Come home, Blaze," Erik whispered to his friend, withdrawing his Blaziken into his Pokeball and releasing Soar in his place. Maxie countered with a Crobat.

"Ahh," Maxie remarked, stroking his chin as he eyed Erik's Pokemon. "A legendary Pokemon. The one you stole away from Mylos and Grant. No matter, it's not the only legendary in this room," he finished, switching his gaze from Latios to Groudon.

Maxie's Crobat cut through the air at speed, the evolved form of Golbat latching its poisonous fangs into Soar who screeched in agony. The Latios swiped at the creature, missing each time as the Crobat moved agilely to the side but remained hovering too close to Soar for him to attack with a blast of energy.

Soar attempted to fly away, but the cavern was too confined for him to properly maneuver, leaving him vulnerable to the small but agile Crobat, who launched an attack with vicious fangs once more.

Erik's Latios launched a desperate energy blast at his opponent, the attack missing entirely and crashing into the Groudon's rock shell. Erik stopped breathing for a moment, expecting the blast to awaken the creature within. Luckily, it didn't.

Maxie's Crobat stopped in midair, anticipating the same thing Erik did, Groudon's awakening. Soar didn't hesitate, the legendary Pokemon grasped the poison-type in his jaws and crushed it, leaving Crobat's limp body to tumble into the pit of lava. Soar wasn't finished, the Latios opened his large mouth and unleashed a stream of energy at his foe, incinerating the Crobat within.

"Soar, it was already defeated!" Erik gasped, before withdrawing Soar back into his Pokeball. He wasn't sure what had happened to his Pokemon, with first Blaze and now Soar acting as if they homed an ancient evil within themselves. He wondered if the Groudon he now stared at had that same presence residing in him, and if so, Maxie wouldn't be able to control it.

"Splash," Erik whispered to his Gyarados's Pokeball. "I hope it's not the same case with you." He threw Splash's Pokeball into the centre of the room, awaiting Maxie's next fighter.

"It's time," the Magma leader said, throwing a Pokeball into play. His favourite Pokemon, a Camerupt, had been housed within.

Maxie pointed his glasses in the direction of his Pokemon, who immediately began to react to the megastone's influence. A dark shroud encased the Camerupt within, and what emerged was no longer a Pokemon, but a monster.

"None of my Pokemon have a chance against a Mega," Erik thought to himself. "The only way I've found to take down a Mega is using multiple powerful Pokemon, but this is now an official trainer battle, my device will know if I've cheated and give Rocket the excuse they need to destroy my licence, and May's still fighting Mylos so can't help me out with her Swampert. Wait," Erik thought, as an idea sprung into his mind.

He grabbed the Masterball in his pocket and flung it towards the Mega-Camerupt.

"You fool," Maxie smirked. "A Masterball works the same way as a normal Pokeball. The gravitational field around it decomposes if it detects the Pokemon already belongs to another trainer. And I'm not even going to ask where you got a Masterball from." The Masterball dropped to the floor, Splash instantly using his tail to whip it back to Erik, who threw it back into his backpack.

"But this Masterball was used on one of my mega-evolved Pokemon," Erik roared.

"Because you weren't in control of it," Maxie said, before uncontrollably breaking into manic laughing.

"Wait. How are you in control-"

"Camerupt," Maxie ordered, "turn 360 degrees on the spot."

His mega-evolved Pokemon complied, turning slowly in place, each stomp of his foot causing the earth beneath its feet to shake. Maxie's demonic laughter echoed around the room once more.

"Don't worry, I can only control this one."

"But how?!"

"That, I'm afraid, is Magma's closely guarded secret. Even Rocket do not yet know."

Erik felt fear coursing through his veins. "The only other way I've ever seen a Mega taken down," he thought to himself. "Is by another Mega."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a megastone, before unleashing the power within on Splash. A deathly screech from his Gyarados was followed by the creature entering then emerging from a dark cloud at twice its usual size, with darkened and enlarged features.

The two entered a titanic battle with the advantage constantly switching sides. Maxie's control over the megaevolution had seemingly weakened it, but only slightly. Instead of it using its primal instincts and unleashing all its fury, it now waited for its trainers command. However, whilst weaker now, Erik thought that under the tutelage of a master trainer, a controlled Mega would be unstoppable.

Mega-Splash curled its way around Mega-Camerupt's body like a snake strangling its prey and began tightening its coils before unleashing a blast of dark energy. The fire-type's retaliation efforts consisted of dark flame blasts, which seared into the Mega-Gyarados's skin, a howl of pain echoing around the room with each one. Erik noticed that Maxie had stopped barking orders a few minutes ago, instead leaving his Pokemon to revert to its instincts.

The Mega-Camerupt escaped its prison, stomping on the ground and flipping onto its side, Mega-Splash writhing in agony and releasing its grasp. Maxie's Pokemon moved to leap into the lava pit. Erik realised that if he were allowed to, the molten substance would flood the room and scorch anyone inside.

Mega-Splash sensed the danger to himself and shot out its head, attacking like a viper, and grabbed onto the Mega-Camerupt, enclosing his strong jaws around his foe's rear.

Maxie's Pokemon pulled strongly, slowly but surely edging away from Mega-Splash, and managed to escape the Mega-Gyarados's vice-like grip. The Mega-Camerupt moved with as much speed as it could muster, the slow moving Pokemon breaking into its own version of a sprint towards the pool of lava.

Mega-Splash recoiled its long neck, inhaling air from around itself and exhaling a blast of dark energy. A black stream of death shot its way towards the Mega-Camerupt, and engulfed the Pokemon whole. Seconds passed before the smoke from the impact cleared. Maxie's Pokemon emerged, somehow still alive.

Maxie's beast was slowed almost to a stop, and began a weak crawl towards the pool. The lava within would both slightly heal and fully conceal the beast, as well as enabling it to be able to shoot molten streams from within. Erik hoped that his Mega-Gyarados could stop his opponent in time, but Mega-Splash didn't appear to be paying attention to Maxie's Pokemon. Instead, he had swiveled his head towards May's Swampert, who had just defeated Mylos. The water-type Pokemon was now the biggest threat in the room.

"Oh no…" Erik whispered, as Mega-Splash prepared to unleash another attack. He had to act quickly, throwing his bag to the ground and fumbling around inside it until he found what he had been searching for.

Mega-Splash unleashed his attack as Erik threw two objects in quick succession.

Splash's megastone collided with the attack of dark energy, absorbing the power and expanding slightly in size. Erik wondered what this meant. Usually when a Mega attack hit a megastone the result would be an explosion, both powers cancelling each other out, but this time an attack had hit its own megastone.

He would have to discover the answer at a later time, as the Masterball trapped the Mega Pokemon within itself. The capsule shook violently, bobbing up and down on the floor as the beast thrashed around inside trying to escape, until the buttons on top turned from red to yellow as Erik breathed a sigh of relief.

The next problem was the Mega-Camerupt.

Erik's fears were rapidly allayed, as he saw the beast had collapsed on the ground and had de-evolved. It had attempted to muster up all its remaining energy in order to crawl into the molten pond, but Mega-Splash's attacks had sapped all of its strength.

"Maxie no!" Mylos roared. Erik looked to the Magma leader, who had just flung the red orb into the pit of lava. Molten fire licked up and claimed the orb within its grasp, smothering the ancient stone in its fiery embrace.

"What have you done," the admin gasped.

"I had no choice, I promised myself that I would do whatever it takes to save Courtney," the leader spoke solemnly. He had always held his head highly and appeared to be in control, but Maxie now just faced the ground, a look resembling that of a defeated and desperate man.

"You've just doomed us all!" Mylos screeched. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

"No!" Maxie roared, as the lava pool behind him began bubbling furiously. "Whatever. It. Takes."

"Even your life?!" Mylos shouted back, before realising that saving his friend was a lost cause. "Forget it!" The Magma admin grabbed Grant and ran from the cavern as fast as he could manage.

"May, get out of here," Erik ordered, but his friend remained stubborn.

"No, I'm staying with you until the end."

A huge roar shook the very foundations of the planet. Rocks tumbled from the roof and lava spat from the pit it had resided within. Groudon had awakened.

"Groudon!" Maxie roared as the beast's yellow eyes fixed on the Magma leader. "Hear me-"

Maxie's words were cut short as fire spewed from its enormous mouth. The beast's first act upon its reawakening was to give the leader of Team Magma a bath of flames. Maxie perished within.

"Maxie…" Erik whispered, seeing the Magma leader evaporate into ash as the fire smothered him. He had never empathized with Maxie and his actions or goals, but he definitely understood why the Magma boss would go to such lengths to rescue Courtney from Team Rocket's vice-like grip. Now, Maxie had been turned to ash by the very Pokemon he thought would save him.

Groudon released a huge roar, which again violently shook the cave as it began collapsing around them.

"Get out!" Erik roared at May.

"What about you?!" May screamed back at him.

"I'm not going to allow it to the surf-" he began, before being interrupted by a further roar. Groudon harnessed all the power he could muster, summoning a rising fountain of lava which he sat atop of. He smashed through the roof, tunnelling his way up to the surface and emerging into the ocean. The water collided with the lava which immediately turned to molten rock, carving a solid pathway through the ocean.

"Let's go!" Erik shouted, releasing Soar as both he and May clambered onto his Pokemon's back. "Follow Groudon upwards!" he ordered his Latios, who immediately obliged as the cavern collapsed around them.

The cave ascended for miles, they had been deep underground. Soar battled his way through treacherous hazards. Spewing lava scorched his underbelly as rocks fell from above and crashed into him, both Erik and May having to constantly shift themselves to avoid boulders as large as their heads flying past them.

As they neared the surface, Erik could see that Groudon was now headed towards Sootopolis upon a wave of lava which acted almost as a surfboard for the beast. Sun scorched the earth as intense heat flowed into the planet's surface. The ancient Pokemon seemingly controlled the sun itself.

"Erik!" May screamed, as she narrowly avoided a rock. "It's headed towards the cave of origin deep inside Sootopolis. Once it gets there it can reverse to its primal form. That's what the books said anyway. See, I told you I could help!" she said, flashing him a sweet smile despite the world collapsing around Soar.

"If it's this strong now, how much stronger can it get once it reaches its final form," Erik thought to himself. "Cecilia!" his head suddenly screamed with glee as he sighted his friend.

Cecilia awaited at the top of the ocean, sitting on a small island and peeking down into the newly-formed chasm below.

They were almost there, Soar had almost reached the surface.

Groudon roared once more, but now with what seemed like a thousand times more verocity.

The planet shook once more, and small cracks began to form within the chasm, but the majority of the rock wall stood strong as small amounts of ocean leaked into it, pouring down into the cave below. All until a wave of lava summoned by the roar shot through it. Soar was almost at the surface, he mustered the remainder of his strength, desperately attempting to reach the top before the lava did.

He succeeded. Just. The lava spewed up and scorched Erik's Latios as he exited the chasm, sending searing pain through his body. Erik and May were thrown off back towards the pit as Soar thrashed out at the scorching impact and crashed into the ocean. The wave of lava shooting up into the sky and leaving the damaged chasm empty once more.

May plunged towards the empty chasm as beads of sweat poured from her body, until Erik grabbed her hand. Her body dangled perilously over the edge, all that stopped her from falling to certain death was the hand she now held. Half of Erik's body slumped over the chasm, his legs on the surface being held in a firm grip by Cecilia.

"Erik!" May screamed, as their sweat covered hands slowly lost their hold on another. "Save me! Please!"

"Hold on!" he replied, feeling his grasp on her hand slowly slip.

"I only wanted to help you! I'm always left out I just wanted to be a part of it all!" May wailed, as Erik held her now only by her fingers.

"Please, don't leave me too," Erik cried.

He couldn't hold her any longer, she slipped from his grasp.

"Erik!" May squealed as she tumbled perilously into the chasm below. Erik rapidly turned his head from side to side, looking around for Soar, but his Latios was nowhere to be seen.

"No!" Erik shouted. "May!"

He watched as she screamed his name, her body tumbling into the chasm below which bellowed creaks and cracks as the ocean began to overpower the rock. His mind briefly harked back to the three shadowed figures in the gym, two humans and a Pokemon. If the Pokemon was Leaf, then the female human must be May. His eyes widened and his heart dropped in realisation. He was really going to lose her.

Her body fell from sight as the ocean broke down the barriers, powerful waves smashing into another, filling the chasm and pouring into the cavern below.

Groudon roared once more.

Another stream of lava shot into the sky, ploughing through the ocean and briefly revealing the cavern below. May was gone.

With a forceful tug, Cecilia pulled Erik up onto the surface as the molten substance screamed passed him and singed his hair.

It had finally sunk in. He would never see May again. Even if she had managed the impossible and survived the fall, then the ocean had swallowed her whole.


	28. Those Who Remain

_Sorry about the lateless of this chapter, after the festive period (spending time with family and what not) I moved house, and have only just got the internet back! The remaining chapters from now on will come out every week or two, hope you enjoy this one!_

Chapter Twenty-Four - Those Who Remain

Soar gasped for air as he emerged from the ocean, flailing around hopelessly as the currents swept him towards the small ring-shaped island where Erik and Cecilia sat, the duo peering into the ocean, which now bubbled in the place where the chasm had once divided the ocean's once calm surface. The water hissed as smoke rose from within and reached into the sky. Pokemon inside slowly boiled within the now furnace-like sea as the baking sun threatened all life within.

Hordes of ocean-dwelling creatures floated to the surface, some desperately gulping in oxygen, others not breathing at all. Shoals of Magikarp lay on their sides, the currents pushing and pulling them with the Pokemon too weak to resist the angry sea. Tentacools joined them, the weakest were always the first to fall, as many washed up on the island's soft sands, their liquid skin steaming in the glaring sun.

"Erik…" Cecilia whispered, her voice frail from a mixture of exhaustion, shock and anguish. Beads of sweat dripped down her face as she too struggled in the intense heat. "Please, speak to me."

Erik felt as if he was melting, both on the inside and outside. His skin felt rough and torn, and was surely as pink as a Jigglypuff's by now. It had only been five minutes since the chasm closed, but it had felt like a lifetime. The sight of May falling back into the cavern replayed itself over and over again in his mind, as he repeatedly thought of far fetched ways he could've saved her. If he hadn't been so caught up in the moment, then he maybe he would've released Bat, who could've flown down and caught her. Or his grip could had been stronger, or had sweat not been trickling down his hands then it definitely would have. The next time he visualised it all happening again, he threw himself in after May, perishing with her.

"That's what I should've done, at least that way, he would have left this life together," he thought out loud.

Cecilia slapped him. "Don't you dare speak like that!" she bellowed. "You're not the only one who lost a friend today!"

The strike snapped Erik back to reality, although the emotional conflict of sorrow, grief and fury continued warring within himself. "A friend?!" he roared, his voice laced with animosity. "She was so much more to me than just a friend!"

"We'll both die if we stay here!" she screamed.

"I don't care!" he shouted, turning his back on her.

"And what about the oceans boiling and Pokemon dying all around us?!"

"I don't care," he whispered. He was shaking violently, but couldn't tell if it was out of sadness or anger. He turned to face Cecilia once more, but this time the rage from her eyes had disappeared, to be replaced by something else. Fear. She was terrified.

"Erik, please," she spoke whilst shaking just as violently as he was. "If we die here, so many Pokemon will too. And all the people that will die in the heat too. Please don't let Team Magma win."

"Maxie is gone," he growled. "Which means Magma are, too." He remembered the image of Maxie disappearing within Groudon's flames, Giovanni and Team Rocket were behind all of it, like they always had been. They had taken his father from him, they had taken his childhood from him, and now they had taken May. "Cecilia," he said, his voice cold. "We're leaving."

"Where are we going?"

"Sootopolis."

"Good idea, if Groudon reaches the centre of the Cave of Origin he will be unstoppable."

"No, we take down Groudon to stop Team Rocket and whatever this 'New Age' is."

* * *

The city of Sootopolis nestled itself within an ancient crater. White runestone surrounded Erik and Cecilia as they traversed the carved streets and many buildings constructed from wood intertwined with stone which sprawled around the entire perimeter.

Erik healed his team at the Pokemon Centre before continuing along the street, following the claw and scorch marks which lined the walls towards the Cave of Origin. Whisperings of wounded and exasperated citizens informed Erik that Groudon had stormed the city, summoning lava in an attempt to use it as a launchpad to throw him over the crater walls, before eliminating any resistance to himself from the townspeople. Groudon scorched Pokemon and person alike as he tore his way towards the Cave of Origin.

A crowd of trainers loitered around the entrance of the cave, awaiting the ancient creature as they anticipated Groudon's return to the surface. Each trainer clasped their hands to Pokeballs on their belts or hid behind their strongest Pokemon. All apart from the two heading the group.

"Erik!" Steven exclaimed, a blue orb in his grasp. "I'm glad you're here. Wallace and I need all the help we can get." He nodded to the man beside him. Wallace looked to be in his early thirties with turquoise eyes with hair which curled gracefully around his head, covered by a white sailors hat. He bore a long white cape with a teal interior. The man's every action was considered and graceful as he frollocked around like a dancer, elegantly moving along the pavement as he attempted to calm down the exasperated citizens.

"Out of my way!" Erik demanded, barging his way through the crowd before the two men at the head of the group barred his path. Cecilia struggled to keep pace as she politely pushed her way through.

"It's too dangerous to go inside, even as the champion and eighth gym leader we aren't strong enough to confront the beast within," Steven spoke, a hint of fear clear in his voice.

"If Groudon reverts to its primal form we have lost!" Erik bellowed. "I won't ask again. Move!"

The two looked at each other nervously. "Wait," Wallace spoke, his high pitched voice singing like a melody. "We believe that this blue orb is the counter to the red one. Both came crashing down with the meteor upon its arrival to Hoenn."

"Let him pass," Cecilia ordered as she caught up to them. "I'll look out for him."

"No, I've already lost May because she insisted on coming with me to a place too dangerous."

"But-" Cecilia whined, before Erik instantly cut her off with a powerful glare. "Oh," she squeaked. "I'll wait outside."

Steven and Wallace jumped out of the way as Erik barged through, grabbing the orb as he pushed his way passed the duo. "We'll wait outside with Cecilia, err, incase you fail," one of them shouted after him, he wasn't sure which.

Flames roared ferociously atop torches, somehow remaining lit along the smooth white stone walls of the ancient cavern. Symbols and drawings lined the interior, scrawled in a language Erik could not understand. He was unsure whether they were drawn by early humans or were here when the meteor crashed into Hoenn.

A trail of destruction created a pathway for Erik to travel down, to the very core of the cavern. Groudon had somehow carved through the runestone and ventured deep underground, to the very pits of the planet. The further he travelled, the more treacherous the path became. Molten lava seeped from scratch marks in the walls, melting the rock straight through underneath as magma dripped onto it. Sweltering heat escalated the further he walked, almost searing through his flesh, making Erik feel as if he were melting.

Erik's vision blurred as haze smouldered around him, before it was replaced by a wall of blue. The orb in his hand emitted a shield around him, circling him like a bubble and pushing away the heat like a powerful gust of wind. As he descended through the newly created tunnels, flames licked up at him from the walls as lava dripped through crevices on the roof. The molten liquid steamed and evaporated as it hit the bubble, with the vicious fires recoiling like a stricken animal upon contact with the shield. Despite being within the hottest oven on the planet, Erik felt cooled by the internal temperatures of the blue orb's protective shield.

The tunnel reached an abrupt climax, as large lumps of stone tumbled into a fierce ocean of lava below, plumes of flame ascending from the molten sea. Erik released Soar from his Pokeball, clambering on top of the Latios as the shield expanded and covered both trainer and Pokemon. They flew into the pit.

The ocean parted before the blue orb's energy, as Soar plunged into the depths. Lava screamed at the impact, hissing and roaring violently as it evaporated at the shield's touch. The extinguish liquid was rapidly replaced by more as Soar funneled through, hunting down Groudon before it could reach the cavern's core.

The magma thinned as the brimstone walls around the ocean narrowed, somehow containing the liquid beast within its stony embrace. Soar smashed through a wall , the shield crushing layers of rock in its wake as lava followed through after him. Soar and Erik emerged in an enormous room.

Ancient markings lined the walls, glowing white in the Groudon's presence as magma poured from the newly formed hole in the wall. The molten waterfall crashed into a small bed of lava which lined the surface, a large rock jutting from it. Purple crystals spun slowly, circling the rock menacingly as cracks swiftly carved their way through the stone and shone a bright white. Groudon perched atop the towering boulder.

As Soar began to land, another section of stone rose from out of the ground, reacting to the blue orb's presence as it pushed through the pool of lava and created a landing bay. Erik wrenched Blaze and Splash's Pokeballs from his belt, launched them and quickly grabbed the trio of megastones from within his backpack.

A flicker of doubt flashed across his thoughts. He had seen how a darkness had entered the souls of the three Pokemon who stood before him, and now with even more excessive use of the stones he clutched within his hands, would they reach a point of no return? He shook the negativity from his mind and pointed the rocks at his Pokemon. He would destroy Groudon and Team Rocket by whatever means necessary, they had taken May from him, and now nothing else mattered but vengeance.

Groudon joined Erik's Pokemon in a painful screech, the ear piercing sounds so violent they caused the entire room to shake as lava spurted both from the waterfall and the pool below, striking up and hitting the bubble shield which surrounded Erik and clashing with the three clouds of darkness that shrouded his Pokemon.

The shining white cracks upon the rock, which the ancient creature used as a podium, had reached the giant boulder's pinnacle, and had began carving into Groudon. Essence-like particles of energy floated towards the creature from the crystals, changing the gems from purple to black as they were drained. The essence glided towards Groudon who absorbed the particles into his skin. It reminded Erik of how Leaf used pollen to affect her foes.

The white energy from the rock slithered up Groudon like many snakes, making it look as if the creature's veins were lighting up. The gigantic creature writhed and screamed in pain as the three megas emerged from the dark clouds to face him. Erik's three Pokemon launched their attacks at the Groudon simultaneously, to be swallowed by an evolution-like bright light.

Moments later, Primal Groudon emerged. Twice the size he was before, the creature now stood at around forty feet high, with bright white cracks in his skin and his vulnerable underbelly turned from a soft white to an impenetrable-looking black.

Erik held his breath in awe, he had never seen a more formidable looking Pokemon. Awe was mercilessly replaced by fury as his whole body shook from rage, the wounds from losing May were still fresh, and cut very deep.

Mega-Splash attempted another attack, but his dark water blast fizzled out and evaporated within the heat of the cave as the Primal Groudon ruthlessly and effortlessly swatted the Mega-Gyarados aside. Dark flame blasts intertwined with black energy beams as Mega-Blaze combined his efforts with Mega-Soar. The two attacks struck the Groudon who recoiled only slightly, before unleashing a vigorous roar. The entire cavern trembled as lava hissed and flared, shooting up and scolding Mega-Soar. Erik released Dancer from her Pokeball for his own protection, as Mega-Blaze stood alone against the Primal Groudon.

Erik's eldest friend rolled to the side as his foe smashed a hammer-like fist into the ground, the Primal Groudon's long claws scraping against the rock. Mega-Blaze launched a blast of black fire, dodged a retaliative swipe and attacked again, the colourless flames expanding and wrapping upon contact with the beast. Mega-Splash recovered to launch a furious assault on the Groudon, smashing his tail against his foe like a gigantic whip, following the blow with a series of water blasts.

Erik watched on in horror as the Primal Groudon grasped Mega-Splash and held him in the air, his tail dangling over the pool of lava below as the molten liquid flared up greedily at its next meal. Mega-Blaze hopped up the boulder where Groudon perched, rapidly climbing the rock until he reached the summit. Once there, his flame-covered hands enclosed into fists as the Mega-Blaziken began a barrage of fiery strikes against the ancient Pokemon's chest.

Groudon recoiled as painful rapid blows struck his stomach, again and again. Mega-Splash thrashed around within the creature's grasp, managing to writhe free, throwing himself to the solid ground below and de-evolving. Erik grabbed Splash's Pokeball and recalled the Gyarados as Mega-Soar slowly climbed back to his feet.

Primal Groudon's nails were knives as they cut into Mega-Blaze, before the fire type was launched across the room by a wild swing of the Pokemon's huge foot. The Mega-Blaziken's flames hissed and evaporated upon contact with the blue orb's protective bubble, as Mega-Blaze bounced off the shield and crashed to the ground below.

Mega-Soar screeched as it took to the air once more, the weakened Primal Groudon stumbling atop the boulder before falling off into the lava below.

"Finish it!" Erik roared, his fists clenched and blood pumping furiously.

His Mega-Latios obliged, a dark blast of energy devouring the ancient creature who smouldered within. A deathly roar filled the room, entering the walls and tearing down the roof as the cavern began to crash down around them. The protective shield around Erik flickered and faded perilously as soon as the Groudon was defeated, as if its life relied upon the creature's own.

Another screech consumed the room. Erik switched his attention from the shield around him to his two Pokemon outside. Mega-Blaze had de-evolved as wounds infested the Blaziken's weakened body, and as Blaze lay prone and unmoving on the cavern floor, Mega-Soar honed in on his next victim.

Erik threw his bag to the ground, fumbling around desperately for the Masterball within. He found Blaze's megastone, then Soar's, then near the bottom of his backpack, the device he needed to save his friend's life. A final howl of pain flowed through the cave, penetrating Erik's skin and piercing his heart. He slowly tilted his gaze upwards to find his Blaziken's body devastated within a blast of dark energy.

The Masterball dropped out of Erik's clutches and to the floor. Dancer reacted instantly as Mega-Soar stared at his trainer through cold, red eyes. She grabbed the Masterball and threw it, before ripping Bat's Pokeball off of Erik's belt and launching it into the air.

While Dancer shoved the stones back in her trainer's backpack, Bat swooped over to the Masterball as the lights on top turned from yellow to green. The shield had almost faded completely as sharp rocks rained down upon them and lava spewed violently from the walls and floor. Bat released Soar from the Masterball, allowing the Latios to pick Erik up as Dancer recalled the Golbat before withdrawing into her own capsule.

Erik couldn't remember what happened next, his vision blurred as his thoughts filled with Blaze joining May in the afterlife, now all he wanted to do was join them, there was nothing left for him out here.

* * *

Torrential rain had replaced remorseless heat over the last couple of weeks, as large raindrops battered the mud and dirt. Professor Birch rested one hand on the coffin and the other on his heart as he passionately recited stories of his daughter. Alongside him was Norman, his oldest friend, who dipped his head in deep regret. After a harrowing tale of the time May first helped him on a field trip, the professor could take no more. The man sprinted from the field in tears, unable to comprehend the fact his daughter was now lost to him. Norman completed the speech in his stead.

Erik peered through his thick hood as he loitered behind the treeline, staring out into the small forest clearing. He was too racked with guilt and shame to show his face, but he couldn't miss May's funeral. His heart ached mercilessly and he couldn't tell whether his face was soaked due to the rain or his tears. He sighted Cecilia alongside his mother in the crowd, who constantly checked around her to see if her son was to join them. Wally was alongside her, and Archie a row behind. The two had finally resurfaced after weeks, or in Wally's case, months, of almost ceasing to exist.

After Norman had finished speaking, the coffin was buried underground by a funeral attendant and his group of Machokes. The crowd slowly receded as stunned citizens of Hoenn said their last words to May and retreated to their homes. After a few minutes, everyone had departed. Everyone apart from Norman, Wally, Cecilia and Archie, who had all gathered in the centre of the clearing.

"We know you're here, son," Norman called out, scanning the trees with heavy set eyes. The trio around him betrayed Erik's father's words, gasping before frantically glancing around the clearing for any sign of their friend.

Erik marched out from the trees, hearing his father beckon him released a surge of anger into his system, gushing from the deepest pits of his soul where he had buried it. Norman was part of Team Rocket, and it was their plan that had caused him to lose May, Blaze and countless others. He approached his father, fists enclosed and ready to swing, but when he was only inches away he collapsed into Norman's outstretched arms, tears flowing freely as all of his grief struck him at once. He was a child again, in his father's caring arms.

"I'm so sorry Erik," Norman whispered.

"Why Dad, why?!" Erik shrilly cried out.

"I only wanted what was best for you." His father's hands clench around him, and he heard a fierceness in Norman's tone that he thought he been swallowed up by his Rocket indoctrination. "But look what Giovanni has reduced you to, my own son."

"Would you like some space, Norm?" Archie asked, attempting to keep his gruff voice as friendly as possible.

"No, I asked the three of you to stay behind for a reason," the Petalburg gym leader replied, his barely controlled voice raw with anger. "I know all about Team Rocket's next step, 'New Age'."

"Yeah, to release Groudon. But that thing went as quick as it came," the Team Aqua leader replied.

"Erik destroyed it," Cecilia added, a hint of pride wrapped within her sweet tone of voice.

"No," Norman responded. "Groudon was meant to distract and eliminate any remaining resistance Hoenn had to offer. New Age is happening this afternoon."

"They did eliminate any resistance," Erik retorted, his voice squeaky and unclear as he forced words through his ceaseless sobs. "May, Blaze, Aqua, everyone."

"Aqua lives on through me!" Archie growled, thumping a fist to his chest. "There's still a couple of my grunts left too! Loyal to the end!"

"I'm still here," Cecilia chirped.

"Me too," Wally added. The once-fragile trainer seemed to suddenly have an air of confidence about him. "You taught me to be strong. I was weak and useless before, but I've been training for months on my own, inside dangerous caves and on big mountains and deserts. I now have six badges, all because of you, Erik."

"You see, son," Norman spoke softly. "You have inspired all those around you to keep fighting, no matter what the odds are."

"I've inspired my close friends to die," Erik snapped back, pushing his father away.

"Both Blaze and May wouldn't want you to give up now. They fought to keep Team Rocket out, not to let them win. Every strategy Giovanni has created so far has worked, he has manipulated everything and everyone until it has all fallen neatly into place for him. Are you really going to let his final plan succeed?"

At his father's words, Erik felt something stir within him. A fire from within. It was as if Blaze lived in inside him as he pictured a Torchic chirping happy, quickly turning into a Combusken smiling at him, and finally, a Blaziken by his side, breathing life into his broken body.

"Blaze was always by my side," he muttered. "And May always wanted to be by it."

"I will be by your side," Norman said firmly. "I've let you down, Erik, and for that I am sorry. But seeing you like this, what Giovanni has done to you, has made me realise what I was doing. I know I was wrong to blindly follow them thinking I was doing what was right by you. I promise you, I am with you now until the end."

"We all are too!" Cecilia added, to murmurs of agreement from both Archie and Wally.

"Then I will stop Giovanni, for Blaze and May, even if it's the last thing I ever do," Erik growled, climbing steadily to his feet.

"So what's this New Age thing?" Archie growled, his voice turning from a calm ocean to a stormy sea.

"A ship, led by Giovanni, is coming. Full of grunts to do his bidding. He plans to land on the beach of Route 104 and install an overseer of Hoenn, a puppet that he can use to control the entire region from his office in Kanto."

"How many?" Archie asked, stroking his beard as he considered the odds of an unlikely victory.

"I'm not sure, at least five times our number, maybe more. A man named Tabitha leads their strike team, a group of elite grunts bred purposefully to take out any resistance, before a second team led by Giovanni himself will move in."

"How do we stop them?" Cecilia enquired, her voice wavering slightly.

"We set up along the cliffs of Route 104, hitting them from range as they approach the beach, if any make it up the hillside them we fight them on the grass. We can't let them push us back to Petalburg as that opens up the way north and south. Wally, you won't be with us I'm afraid, I have another task for you."

"That's a tough ask for the four of us, even with my two grunts added, we can't take on that many," Archie spoke before Wally could reply.

"We have allies. Giovanni was using Magma to bribe the authorities, and most people I've asked are too afraid to incur Rocket's wrath to enter the battle. Steven Stone and his father won't be helping us after a nice little pay-off. As for the gym leaders, Brawley said he doesn't care, Wattson has been bribed, Tate and Liza refused to respond to me. But Roxanne and Flannery will help, Winona has sworn vengeance after what happened to May, and Wallace has promised a 'helping hand', whatever that means."

The next words were lost to Erik as he remained in his own thoughts, Rocky had joined the team now making up the magic number of six. He hoped that they could win this impossible fight, but he would give everything he still had left to give. For Blaze, May, and everyone else that had been lost along the way.

* * *

Dark clouds cast a foreboding gloom over the defenders of Hoenn as a cold chill encircled the southern reaches of Route 104. A large cruiseliner ploughed towards them, cutting through the ocean like a hot knife through butter. The ship was painted in the infamous black and purple of Team Rocket, with a large red letter "R" visible on either side.

"You ready?" Norman asked his son as the two stood side by side atop the hillside.

"I've never been more ready," Erik spoke through gritted teeth as he clenched his fists tighter with each wave that smashed against the sands.

Norman nodded to Flannery. The fire type gym leader guarded the beach's northern hills where Mr. Briney's house lay, the land sharply descending into a small pier where neither the old sailor, nor his small boat could be seen. Her Camerupt loitered above the wooden stairway which connected the beach to the hills.

Erik's gaze fixated on the ship, which had stopped just short of firing range. He could see small specks hastily running around the deck, clambering onto the small speedboats before they began a slow descent into the ocean.

"Here come the strike team," Norman spoke, his tone calm and considered. "Good."

"Good?" Erik asked.

"They have underestimated us," Norman replied. "They see just you and I, Flannery and Roxanne. They think it's just the four of us." The Petalburg gym leader looked to where Roxanne and her rock types lay in wait, guarding the southern descent. "If they thought we were anything of a threat they would have lined the edges of their ship with Pokemon and began bombarding us from afar."

The speedboats moved in unison as they hit the ocean, a total of eight black dinghies all mounted by a small squad of elite Rocket grunts. A swarm of Golbats, Crobats and Fearows darkened the skies above the ship as the strike team began their assault on the shores.

Erik nodded to Soar and Bat who both flapped their wings and rose from the ground, but were quickly stopped by a halting raised hand from Norman.

"We need our Pokemon to attack anything that makes it to the beach," Erik's father said.

The two landed to either side of Dancer, and Rocky. Erik needed a new fire type in his team so chose the Numel he had caught on the climb of Mt. Pyre. Rocky had been raised in the daycare up until now, awaiting the day his trainer would come back and take him by his side.

Norman kept two Slakings, a Vigoroth, a Zangoose, and two Linoones with him. The two Slakings awaited alongside a large pile of rocks and boulders, which they were instructed to throw at anyone or anything that set foot on the beach. The other four Pokemon were to charge down the hillside and stop anything that made it passed their initial defences.

"I believe in you, my son." Norman placed a hand on Erik's shoulder as he spoke. "But before this battle begins I need you to know this. If we fail today, that will be it, Rocket will control Hoenn and we will all be locked up." He stared his son directly in the eyes, as if he struggled to comprehend what he was saying. "But even if we succeed, the fight won't be over today. Hoenn is on its knees and everyone in power has already given in to Rocket, the only way we can force Hoenn to fight back is-"

Norman was cut short by an earth shaking sound. The cruiseliner let out its own battlecry, a thunderous roar shouted by a huge horn, the powerful noise enough to strike fear in the heart of anyone, human or Pokemon. Erik counted around twenty fliers heading towards them, and each of the eight speedboats contained three or four grunts. They had larger numbers just in their initial assault force than Erik had ever considered on the entire cruiseliner.

The horn fell silent, and for only a moment, a small wave of calm washed over the shoreline, a breeze of peace which swept through Erik's hair and sank into his skin. A dinghy was suddenly launched into the air as Splash emerged from the depths. Seal leapt from the Gyarados's back, shooting ice shards which pierced the sides of the airbourne boat. Panic swept through the ranks as another boat was dragged under, then another, as Archie and his grunts in full clad diving costumes flew out of the depths a few moments later on the backs of Sharpedos.

One of the dinghys turned around to help their fallen allies, taking the fight to the shattered remnants of Team Aqua. The other four speedboats remained on course for the beach, where Erik awaited, a fire burning brightly inside him, his Blaziken living on within himself.

"For May!" a shrill scream swept across the beach like a gust of wind, as Winona burst out of Petalburg Woods atop a Swellow. Five more Pokemon followed, and alongside them, Will. The gym trainer that had reminded Erik so much of himself flew on the back of a Xatu, the seven flying types crashing into the Rocket fliers.

Chaos ensued above as Erik struggled to distinguish friend from foe. The ocean was awash with fighting as carnage swept across the waves, Splash battled against a duo of Team Rocket Gyarados and Archie against a group of Tentacruel. Erik closed his eyes.

"Blaze, May, Ice, Ziggy, Gully…" Erik began, repeating the names of his lost friends within his mind, over and over, using his pain to fuel his spirit. "...Roller, String, Speedy, Leaf. This is for you, all of you," he opened his eyes. "For all of you!" He roared.

"For Hoenn!" Flannery and Roxanne cried out.

"For you, my son," Norman whispered. Erik turned to face his father, but realised the Gym Leader was speaking to himself.

A half dozen Rocket grunts passed the shoreline atop flying types, two Crobats, three Golbats and a Fearow. Soar and Bat sprung into motion, taking to the skies and confronting their opponents as the four speedboats crashed into the beach.

Rocks were hurled from Roxanne's Pokemon, a Nosepass, two Golems, two Gravellers and a Lairon, as well as from one of Norman's Slakings, all aimed at the flying types in the sky. Rocky's fire blasts joined bolts of electricity from Dancer and flamethrowers from Flannery's Torkoals, Camerupts and Macargo's, the attacks smashing into the initial wave of grunt-released Pokemon.

Koffings and their evolved form, Weezing joined many Grimers, Muks, Golbats and Crobats released onto the beach by the strikeforce. The fire strikes were soaked up by a trio of Houndooms, released by the leader of the squad, Tabitha. The ex-Magma member wore all black, a hooded robe like a Magma member would, but instead of crimson this was dyed the colour of night. A cape swung from his shoulders to his heels. The grunts surrounding him wore typical Rocket outfits, tight fitting suits or other forms of expensive black or purple clothing.

A Fearow fell from the sky, tumbling to the ground accompanied by a large boulder hurled by one of Norman's Slakings. Soar's energy blasts devoured a couple of the Golbats as Bat fought a closely matched battle with a Crobat. Norman signalled to his Zangoose, Vigoroth and pair of Linoones, the quartet immediately responding, descending rapidly down the cliff face and leaping onto a group of Pokemon that had advanced passed the bolts of fire and electricity.

A couple of grunts had made their way to the southern ramp, their Pokemon engaged in battle with Roxanne's finest rock-types. On the other side, Flannery's Camerupt had destroyed the stairway, waiting for a grunt to climb up before igniting the support beams, the Rocket member leaping off as his Pokemon perished within the flames. Another grunt had climbed the pier, and was locked in a fight with Flannery's other Pokemon.

Tabitha screamed an order at one of his Houndooms, who to Erik's horror, shot flames at one of the grunts mounted on a Crobat. The strikeforce leader withdrew all three of his Pokemon, ordering the flier to land and climbed on the Crobat himself.

"Slakings," Norman bellowed, "take down that Crobat!" The two responded instantly, grabbing stones and launching them at the poison type who arrowed towards them. Erik spotted Archie's Aqua squad and Winona's flying Pokemon slowly turning the tide of battle to their advantage, as Team Rocket's numbers slowly dwindled.

The smile across his face vanished as quickly as it had appeared as Tabitha leaped off the back of his Crobat just as a rock smashed into the creature. The ex-Magma admin landed softly on the hillside with Norman and Erik as he released his three Houndooms.

"Norman," Tabitha croaked, his face remained in darkness underneath a thick cowl, but his voice was both crispy and dry, as if his voicebox had been severely scorched. "You've betrayed us, but how can you be stupid enough to oppose us?" It was as if each word he croaked left his throat in agony. The man twitched a gloved hand each time he spoke.

"You're one to speak about betrayal!" Erik roared. "Maxie was your friend, and you helped them steal his wife!"

"Steal his wife?" The man's laughter was as harsh and broken as his voice. "Courtney joined Rocket of her own free will! She never loved that man, in fact, she pitied him, he-."

"Enough of this!" Norman barked.

"Your wish is my command. Houndoom, burn them alive."

"Wait, you can't order Pokemon to attack trainers!" Erik growled.

"This isn't a trainer battle you fool, this is war!" Tabitha responded, before breaking into crackling laughter as his three dark types attacked with waves of fire.

Norman's two Slakings leapt in the way, shielding their trainer and his son with their lumbering frames as their fur soaked up the flames.

"Remember that trick?" Norman said to his son, flashing Erik a quick smile as he recalled their gym battle. Both Slakings slouched to the floor before they were leapt upon by two of the vicious Houndooms. The third eyed up Erik, charging at the trainer, its snarling fangs dripping with saliva.

Dancer tackled the Pokemon, as Rocky faced up to the other two, who had just finished with the now defeated Slakings. Dancer deftly danced out of the way of a wild lunge by the her foe, hurling a bolt of electricity at the fire type then leaping out of the way of a vicious flamethrower.

Rocky was faring a lot worse. He had taken a few blows from one of the Houndooms as the other circled around him then rammed into him from behind. The Numel struggled to his feet before being consumed by flames.

"Blaze would've been able to take down both," Erik sighed, seeing his Numel gasping for air as the flames around him dissipated. The two Houndoom strutted up to Rocky to apply the finishing blow.

The first Houndoom was swept aside by Bat, before Soar engulfed both within an energy blast. Dancer lit up the weakened duo in a cascade of thunderbolts summoned from the sky.

Erik glared at Tabitha, before moving to check on his Numel's health. A flash of movement caught his eye, as Tabitha reached into his pocket for a device. A small black box with a red button. The strikeforce leader pressed the button, and for a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the horn sounded once more.

"Goodbye," Tabitha croaked, before opening his arms and stretching them as wide as he could. "I regret nothing."

Erik's confusion was only added to as the Rocket grunts dived into the sea, clambered onto their boats, or flew back to the ship, which had moved forward slightly and was now turning to face them side-on.

Winona and Archie moved to halt the retreat, Erik eyeing the group of Swellow as Will flashed him a smile and waved to him from above. Suddenly, the Fortree gym trainer was falling towards the surface, his Xatu shot out of the sky by a rain of fire.

Archie ordered his grunts and Erik's waterbourne Pokemon to seek cover underwater as the ocean was lit up in flames. A barrage of fireballs, streams of poison and powerful jets of water had erupted from the ship's decks. The bombardment had commenced.

Erik began recalling his Pokemon into their Pokeballs, Dancer withdrawn, then Soar, then Bat.

Norman let out a cry of pain. A blast of poison had hit him directly. Something then caught Erik's eye. A huge wall of flame aimed at him.

"Rocky," he cried, "I'm sorry for doubting you, I'm sorry for wanting you to be like Blaze. I just really miss him. Help me."

His Numel turned his head, staring at Erik with soft, sad eyes as the wall of flame hit them. A bright light engulfed them both. Rocky was evolving.

"Erik…" Norman gasped. The light had protected him too, but not from the poison which clawed at him from within, suffocating his veins and strangling the life out of him. "I'm...so...sorry."

"Dad!" Erik screamed, grabbing hold of his father as the newly evolved Camerupt emerged from the light.

The bombardment had stopped as suddenly as it had started. Team Rocket's cruiseliner released its remaining speedboats, Giovanni was coming with the rest of his army.

"Don't leave me too, please, I can't. I won't. Dad!" Erik sobbed, holding his dying father within his arms.

"You...Must...Stop...Rocket," Norman spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I can't do it without you, you're all I have left!"

"You've done...All this without…Me...But to stop Rocket...And rally Hoenn...You must become...Champion," Norman spluttered, before he lay back his head and closed his eyes. "And Erik," he finally managed.

"Yes, Dad?" Erik replied. He moved his hand to his motionless father's wrist, feeling his life slowly fade away.

"You couldn't have made me more proud…I love you...My son."


	29. Hoenn's Last Stand

Chapter Twenty-Five - Hoenn's Last Stand

A sudden silence surrounded the battered and scorched beach, loose flames tearing havoc across shards of rock and splinters of wood.

The wind was as cold as snow as it howled around Cecilia, the trainer peering through borrowed binoculars at the battleground from aboard her own transport. Team Rocket's bombardment had torn through all but the beach's last defences, as she spotted Flannery clambering to her feet from behind the shattered remains of Mr. Briney's hut. The Lavaridge Gym Leader she had used the small building to shield herself from the rain of fire, water and poison emanating from Giovanni's battleship.

Roxanne picked herself up from the beach's southern rise, crawling out from underneath her own protection, a Graveller, who had sacrificed himself to protect his trainer. Both gym leaders' Pokemon sprawled lifelessly across the ground, as the duo beat a hasty retreat towards Petalburg City.

Her gaze turned to Archie, the Aqua leader hoisting Winona from the ocean. Her Pokemon had plunged into the depths, unable to withstand the barrage of attacks. Splash and Seal joined them, as they too all began their retreat to the city. A legion of speedboats chased them towards the shoreline, as Erik clutched his father in his arms, oblivious to the scenes unfolding around him. Cecilia knew that she had arrived too late.

"Tally ho!" a shout from behind her called. The small white yacht she stood on swayed calmly on the waves, belying the violence encompassing the battlefield. She had been sent to gather any support she could find to reinforce Hoenn's defenders, but the only volunteers were an aging man and his Wingull, along with a further two people she had once considered enemies.

"My house…" Mr Briney gasped as he steered his boat into the fray. "Come on Peeko, let's help our friends!" he barked to his Wingull, who chirped happily in response.

The speedboats were in range for her to count them. Twelve. With a larger boat reinforced with a certain metal she couldn't identify leading from the front. As the two other volunteers marched onto the deck, four of the speedboats altered their course and sped towards them.

* * *

Erik lifted his head and strained his vision through tear-soaked eyes. A large speedboat lined with specially tempered steel armour crashed into the beach, sand parting upon contact as Giovanni's vessel reached its landing point. Archie rushed past him, heading towards Petalburg with Winona clenched in his arms, the Fortree gym leader rendered unconscious by a strike from a water blast.

Splash and Seal joined Rocky upon the cliffside, poised to attack but awaiting their trainer's order which never came. Flashes of battle caught Erik's eye to his left, as Mr. Briney's yacht shot out of Route 105 and collided with a speedboat, carving through the rubber dinghy like a knife as Rocket members leapt off the sides. Fire, grass and water intertwined as Pokemon attacked from the yacht, launching strikes at three other speedboats.

"Norman!" Courtney called, giggling slightly as both her and Giovanni headed an army of grunts. Her every action was filled with energy and vigour, the perfect contrast to the calm but menacing man beside her. "Oh, Mr. Traitor!" her high pitched voice rang once more after no response. She almost carried herself like a younger woman, skipping as she walked and hastily attempting to keep pace with Giovanni's long strides. The woman wore a mix of purple and black, with knee high boots and a frilled skirt underneath a tight-fitting top. A loose black cowl only partly-covered her purple curled hair. Despite being middle-aged, her face showed no signs of the fact.

Giovanni strode towards him, saying nothing. He appeared to be in full control, as if the fight had already been won. An explosion roared behind them, as the gas lined inner tubes of a speedboat exploded on contact with a blast of fire from the yacht. The Rocket grunts turned to look, but their two leaders kept their gaze solely on Erik and Norman.

"Oh no," Courtney squealed mockingly. "Did the traitor perish in my flames? Oh deary me!" she shrieked like a child.

Giovanni raised a halting hand to his grunts, as they lined out on the beach. He ascended the rise towards Erik with Courtney in tow.

"Oh deary deary me," Courtney mocked as she skipped towards Erik, "Norman's gone, gone... gone!"

Erik dropped his head in silence, holding his father tight within his arms.

"Enough of this," Giovanni finally spoke, to which Courtney stopped in her step and performed a slight curtsy. "Norman was a good man who believed in a better future. Our future. It must have taken a lot to turn him against us. I am most impressed with you once more, Erik. You surpass my expectations time and time again."

Erik said nothing as he cradled Norman in his arms, his thoughts remained predominantly with his father, May and Blaze as Giovanni's words passed by him like wind.

"You have fought well. Very well. But you must now realise that you are defeated. All of your allies have retreated and that boat out there will soon vanish under the waves."

"No…" Erik whispered.

"No? Perhaps another demonstration is in order then." Giovanni clicked his fingers, to which Courtney pulled a headpiece out from under her cowl to her mouth and barked the words "Wallace, you're up."

Erik looked to the yacht, noting that another one of the speedboats had been destroyed and the other now lay unmanned, as Briney had began turning his vessel towards the beach in an attempt to assist Erik. An enormous wave rose from the ocean. Wallace emerged from the depths sat atop a large serpant-like creature, its yellow coils sprayed out across the wave as the Milotic rode the rising sea like a ship of its own.

The wave crashed into the yacht, claiming the boat within its grasp and overturning the vessel. Wallace's surprise attack then crashed down on the remains before the sea began to swallow the yacht's remnants.

"It's done. And my reward?" Wallace's voice sang out of the speaker for Erik to hear.

"Will be signed and sealed when we're finished here," Giovanni replied, after which Courtney flicked the headset off.

"No…" Erik whispered once more, he dropped his head and held his father's body ever tighter. All he ever wanted was Norman's love and approval, but when he had finally received it, his father was lost to him.

"I leave you with a choice," Giovanni spoke to him, his commanding voice booming across the hillside like a strong gust of wind through the grass. "Join us now and take Norman's old place by my side, or fall with him."

"No…" Erik said for a third time, unable to muster up the willpower for anything else.

"Then regretfully, you will be buried alongside your father," Giovanni replied coldly.

"You must stop Rocket," Norman's voice echoed around Erik's mind. "You must become champion."

"I want to be the greatest trainer who ever lived!" a child's voice joined Norman's within, Erik quickly realising that it was his own.

"You taught me to be strong, I now have six badges, all because of you, Erik," Wally's voice added to the mix.

"I'm staying with you until the end," May's voice followed, as Erik moved his hand to his heart which was aching mercilessly.

He thought of Cecilia, of Archie and all the other's that depended on him. The fire's began stoking within himself once more. He thought of Ice, of Leaf, of all the Pokemon and people he had lost as Blaze's spirit roared fire back into his heart.

"All I ever wanted," he whispered aloud, as Giovanni strained to hear his voice. "Was to be loved."

"You couldn't have made me more proud, I love you, my son," the final voice reverberated in his mind.

He lay his father's body on the ground. Erik sprang to his feet, then he grabbed the Pokeballs from his belt and launched them. As fury surged through his veins and boiled his blood, Erik's thoughts settled on one thing. That the man in front of him had taken it all from him. All his Pokemon roared at once, with so much ferocity that even Giovanni took a step backwards.

"And you took that from me!" Erik bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at the Team Rocket leader. "Blaze, May, Dad. They all loved me, and you took them from me. You!"

"You may direct your anger and blame towards me," Giovanni retorted. "But we both know that the one you blame is yourself, and we both know that you're right too."

A half-dozen Rocket grunts had ascended the hillside at the sight of their boss being threatened by Erik's furious Pokemon, all squeezing their Pokeballs tightly. Erik saw Courtney glance to the side, and was surprised to see what at.

"Didn't think I'd leave ya, did ya?" Archie grinned as he strolled out into the clearing. "And who's this little lady?" he spoke to Courtney, unsuccessfully attempting to sound charming.

A ruckus on the beach was next to divert the group's attention, as the sunken yacht's passengers were engaged in battle with Rocket grunts. A new speedboat had arrived, Erik guessing that the passengers had clambered onto the unmanned dinghy and proceeded to the beach despite their setback. He spotted Briney and Peeko fighting a duo of Koffings, Cecilia locked in a fight with three grunts at the same time, and a couple of people he had to squint to recognise charging through the sands towards the small rise leading to him.

They were cloaked in full crimson robes, with thick hoods and heavily concealed faces, but Erik had seen enough of the duo to identify them as Grant and Mylos. The Magma duo had joined their cause.

"Still you fight," Giovanni said, no hint of emotion in his controlled tones. "Courtney, see them off, I have other things to sort out. Contingencies." And with those words, the Team Rocket leader released a Fearow from its Pokeball, climbed on top, and flew back to his cruiseship.

"Coward!" Archie shouted after him, before sending his Sharpedo to battle against the six grunts on the hillside. "Think I might need a hand here!" he followed, as Erik sighted more grunts advancing up the rise.

"We've got you covered!" Flannery and Roxanne cried, as the two gym leaders rejoined the battle. "Just a quick stop to withdraw some more Pokemon from storage, we're back now though!" Flannery spoke, as the two engaged more of the grunts.

"Looks like it's just the two of us," Courtney giggled, almost bouncing as she spoke. "Wanna take this someplace more private?" she said with a wink.

"It's her!" Mylos bellowed, the bulky man panting as he reached them.

"Who?" Grant replied, only a step behind.

"Her you idiot!" Mylos followed, pointing a finger at Courtney.

"I know but who's 'her'?" Grant's expression had only grown more puzzled.

"Courtney! Maxie's girl! Tabitha kidnapped her!"

"Nope. Wrong," Courtney retorted, a sly smile snaking across her face.

"What? But you were one of us!" Mylos's expression now matched Grant's

"Was. Was. Was. Should I say that again?" she giggled once more. "Maxie was a pathetic man, not like my 'Vanni."

"But you loved Maxie! Everything he did was for you!" Mylos cried, Erik could sense the strain in the man's voice at the memory of his friend.

"I never loved him I'm sorry to say," she started. "Oh wait...No I'm not sorry. I could see he was destined for greatness so I went along for the ride."

Mylos's expression noticeably dropped at her words.

"And he did everything for me?!" she squealed, her voice reaching an incredibly high pitch. "That's so cute! I'm once again not sorry to say that when I had heard he died I laughed, the thought of that pathetic man being burnt alive by the one thing he thought could save him! Poetic!" she giggled frantically.

"What has happened to you!" Mylos roared, clenching his fists, it was extremely visible to Erik how much the man was having to restrain himself. "You were always sweet and innocent, and now you're this! What have they done to you?!"

"Wait a second," Erik interrupted. "How did you know about how Maxie died?"

"Yes, how did I know, Grant?" she thrust her hips onto her hips and smiled at the man, who was shaking.

"I...Erm...Dont know?" Grant replied, his voice quivering violently.

"Because you were our inside man!" she squealed with delight, clapping her hands at each word.

"What?!" Mylos roared as he grabbed his comrade.

"Not anymore!" Grant squealed. "I promise. I swear. It was only because Rocket kept threatening me. Please don't hate me. Or hurt me."

"Oh no, Granty boy went all quiet after our old pal Maxie bit the dust," Courtney said in a slightly more serious tone, thrusting her hands firmly back on her hips.

"How do we know that you're not going to stab us in the back the moment we give you a chance to?" Erik asked the man who Mylos had a strong hold of.

"I promise. I won't. Magma and Maxie and Mylos are...err...were all I have. I was just scared. I'm sorry."

"Mylos let him go," Archie growled, turning from a battle between his Sharpedo and a trio of Golbats.

"And why should I listen to the leader of Aqua?!" Mylos retorted, releasing Grant from his vicelike grasp and storming over to Archie.

"Ooh, I sense discord in the ranks!" Courtney jibed.

"Mylos that's enough!" Erik roared, to which the Ex-Magma Admin visibly backed down. "More grunts are coming, we need you three to take them on. I'll handle Courtney."

"Oh no you won't!" Courtney giggled, seeing the tide turn as the defenders of Hoenn slowly overpowered the Rocket grunts. Cecilia and Mr. Briney had carved their way through the thinning resistance on the beach as more and more grunts climbed the hillside, some through choice, and others through necessity. Archie, Roxanne and Flannery were struggling to stem the flow. "I'm outta here!" the woman followed, throwing a Crobat into the air and retreating to the ship on the back of the poison-typed Pokemon.

"You won't get away with what you've done!" Mylos roared after her.

"I will! And we've still got all your plans we stole from your base to ponder over!" Courtney called after them as she rode off.

"Erik," Archie growled. "What now?"

"Can you guys handle this?" Erik questioned, seeing any defeated Rocket grunts hastily retreat back to their ship, either swimming through the beckoning seas or clambering onto speedboats and surfing through the waves towards safety.

"Course we can! Why, where you going? And where's that kid Wally?"

"I don't know, Dad said he had other plans for him. I've got to go to Sootopolis and defeat Wallace-"

"Yeah! Take that traitor scum down!" Archie interrupted.

"No," Erik countered. "I need his badge. The only way to rally the region and stop Rocket is for me to become Champion."

"Then go!" Archie roared as his Sharpedo took a fierce blow from a Weezing's smog attack.

"Yeah we got this!" Mylos added as he turned his attention from Grant to the oncoming black and purple horde.

"I'm with you guys 'til the end!" Grant said weakly, fumbling around his belt for a Pokeball.

"Good luck," Erik responded as he mounted Soar and recalled his other Pokemon into their capsules.

"You too," Mylos replied after him. Archie had already switched his focus to his battle as Erik took to the skies heading straight towards the white crater once more.

* * *

Sceptile blew away a Koffing with a powerful gust of sharp leaves, as Mightyena combined furious bites with strong headbutts in rapid succession against a pair of Rocket-owned Poochyena. Tropius and Lairon teamed up against a collection of Zubats as Milotic and Xatu combined their efforts against another grunt's Pokemon.

"Where's Erik going?" Cecilia shouted to Briney, taking her attentions away from her Pokemon for a moment. The two had forced their way further and further up the beach, many grunt's falling to her fatigued party as Peeko swung towards Petalburg Woods time and time again, dropping scores of berries at her team's feet.

"I don't know, but wherever it is, it must be important," the old man responded, tracking the Latios with a hint of admiration within his jaded eyes.

"Must be," Cecilia whispered to herself. She shared Briney's tiredness, her eyelids weighed heavily upon her face and her muscles screamed in agony after diving deep into the ocean to save the old sailor after Wallace's wave had launched them into the depths. Her usually fluffy and free flowing hair had turned irritatingly straw-like as it clung to her skin as if it had been soaked in glue.

Peeko airdropped another supply package of berries for her weary team, who shielded one another as each of her Pokemon took it in turns to gobble up their share. Defeated grunts scampered past them, flicking sand and dirt into the air as they raced towards safety. Combining their efforts with those on the ridge, Cecilia and Mr. Briney had cut down half of the landing party, but their shattered Pokemon were now relying on nothing but sheer willpower to push them through the pain barrier.

"Tropius! No!" Cecilia screamed in agony as her grass-typed Pokemon fell to an savage aerial sweep by a school of Golbats. She remembered catching the huge beast as she left the Weather Institute after the battle with Magma. Her and Tropius had always flown together across the land, cutting through the skies with smiles on their faces and laughter warming their hearts. It felt almost as if part of her had been ripped out, she had never lost a Pokemon in battle before, but the soul-connecting bond between her and her friend had been mercilessly severed. The Golbats fell in quick succession as powerful jets of water shot them down, before her Milotic too, was taken from her. The evolved form of Feebas she had spent hours nurturing was so fixated on vengeance that she failed to realise that a Muk had crawled over to her, smothering her snake-like frame with a suffocating liquid ooze.

Her remaining Pokemon fought valiantly. She was a formidable trainer, she knew that, but a daunting sensation of fear steadily swam through her. The loss of a Pokemon was a pain she never wished to experience again.

Her Lairon cut his way through a Koffing, the solid steel armour encasing his body used as a tenacious battering ram to force his way through the army of Grunt Pokemon. She looked then to her Xatu, who had destroyed the villainous Muk, frying its mind with psychic waves so the poison type's brain resembled its outer form, and now the flying type commenced an aerial bombardment of its own. Cecilia saw Sceptile surround a Weezing in a whirlwind of leaves, before calling the razor-sharp objects inwards. Mightyena continued his mixed assault of bites and headbutts to a group of Grimers with the Xatu frazzling the minds of all that lay below her, until a furious blow struck her in the face.

Xatu was pummelled by a Machoke, who, along with three others of his species, began an unrelenting assault on the downed Pokemon deep behind enemy lines. She had been gifted a the Pokemon as a present for her twenty-second birthday from her father, and treasured it ever since.

"Save-" Cecilia started roaring the order to her Pokemon, but a sharp pain in her heart caused her to realise it was already too late. "Her…" she whispered as tears suddenly pricked her dark eyes.

The despondency swept through her Pokemon, her belief crushed as another of her friends fell. Her three remaining Pokemon began a steady withdrawal towards her, Sceptile and Mightyena moving agilely to avoid a series of blows from rival Pokemon, but her Lairon lacked the speed. A herd of Rocket-owned Pokemon swarmed the steel-type, who was lost within the crowd. She so desperately had wanted an Aggron.

"Is this it for us, Peeko?" Mr. Briney asked his Wingull, who had perched herself on his shoulder. Sceptile and Mightyena stood firmly in front of them, protecting their trainer and the old sailor from the army of Pokemon that approached. Cecilia counted four Machokes, two Weezings, two Muks, a Golbat, a Crobat and alongside them, a score of Grimers, Koffings and Zubats.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I've failed," Cecilia whimpered, as the army began its assault. Mightyena and Sceptile charged to meet them as defeated Koffings and Grimers were launched into the air. Cecilia watched on as her Mightyena battled against all four Machoke, dodging wild swings and countering with vicious bites. One went down, then another, before a crushing blow struck him in the jaw. Mightyena rolled out of the way of a finishing strike, slamming his skull into the aggressor's stomach and wrapping his ferocious jaws around its frame, before a karate chop from the final Machoke struck her in her abdomen.

"I came out here to prove to everyone I could do it by myself," Cecilia said grimly. "And now I've not only lost all my friends, I've lost my Pokemon licence too," she finished, as her Mightyena slouched the the floor, too weak to see the finishing blow coming. She loved all canine-like Pokemon, and ever since capturing a Poochyena, she had cherished him until he had grown into a fully fledged Mightyena, he was her second favourite Pokemon. Her closest friend, her Sceptile, was flagging too against constant poisonous strikes which sapped the last drops of his energy.

Her eldest Pokemon and friend mustered the remainders of his strength and launched a flurry of blows against the surviving Machoke. Once the fighting type was defeated he harnessed power from the sun and launched a beam of solar energy against the Crobat, who flopped lifelessly to the ground alongside the two Weezing and Golbat that he had defeated earlier. Waves of poison and streams of liquid ooze smashed against the failing Sceptile's staggering frame, as the toxins ate at his insides, the grass type Pokemon looked back at its trainer and smiled, before closing his eyes and falling to his final rest.

Cecilia's vision was blurred through her tears as the surviving Rocket Pokemon approached both her and Briney. Peeko was no fighter, so she had flown down into Mr. Briney's clutched arms. If the two were to fall, they would do so together. He had already closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

The dozen or so poison types who arched their bodies before Cecilia inhaled breath, preparing for a final assault.

A large boulder smashed into a Muk, followed by a flamethrower incinerating the other. More fires engulfed the army ahead, the flames encompassing the Team Rocket army and smothering them in their fiery embrace.

"Yeah you run away boys!" a gruff shout called from behind the fleeing grunts, the remaining Rocket members had been defeated. Archie, Mylos, Grant, Flannery and Roxanne stepped out from beside the burning flames.

"What's wrong with you?" Archie asked Cecilia, seeing the girl in tears.

"She's lost all her Pokemon, and her licence I presume," Briney replied for her, seeing that she was too despondent to speak.

"So? I've just lost my last Sharpedo, and my licence too!" Archie chuckled. "Don't matter though, we've won here and Hoenn is safe...ish."

"So what now?" Mylos asked, as hundreds of fallen Pokemon lay scattered across the beach, scared with flames, poison and pools of foamy water.

"Now? It's all down to Erik," Archie responded as he looked up to the sky. "All our hopes lay with him."

* * *

The dimming sun cast its fading rays over Soar as the Latios carried his trainer towards the giant mound of white stone, which sprung from the sea like a mole upon his skin. A bitterly cold wind nipped at Erik's sides as he rode, carrying with it the distinctive essences of a sea still healing from the severe scorching of Groudon's heatwave.

Every second of the ride over the sea back towards Sootopolis was a further memory of regret, pain or intense sadness. The thoughts circled around Erik's mind in a never ending spin. Starting at the caves under Route 128 which saw Maxie perish within Groudon's fiery awakening, he felt no remorse at the time, but after meeting Courtney and hearing her words, he felt a tinge of sorrow for Magma's former leader. The next spoke of the wheel of memories led him to May, screaming for him to save her as she plunged to her doom, but he had failed to do so. Then it turned to Blaze, where once more he was too slow, his own Pokemon vanquishing his closest friend with a dark energy blast right before his eyes. Finally, it landed on his father choking on the poisonous blast as they stood together on the crest of the hill. Memories fluttered back and forth of his childhood, to his teenage years, then to his journey through Hoenn. Each thought showed him what he had wanted all along. He had wanted his dad back.

"I must become Champion," Erik spoke out loud, wiping the memories from his mind as he focused on the one thing he used to push himself through this.

Soar crashed down onto the stone streets of Sootopolis where Erik dismounted and rushed into the Pokemon Centre. After healing his team, he considered the eighth gym. Naturally, as a region so full of rivers, lakes and seas abundant with water type Pokemon, Hoenn would have many powerful water trainers, and therefore the final gym was home to aquatic Pokemon users. And the leader happened to be Wallace, the man who had stabbed them in the back during Team Rocket's assault on Hoenn.

Erik sent Rocky back into storage specifically for the gym fight. He couldn't risk his Camerupt against water Pokemon due to his dual fire and ground typing being doubly susceptible. Instead, he withdrew Zap. The Electrode he had caught within the Team Magma hideout would have the type advantage, and also allow him to rest Dancer during the battle against the gym trainers, saving her for Wallace.

Exiting the Pokemon Centre, Erik once again clambered onto his Latios, before the legendary Pokemon rose up and hovered above the stone city. It wasn't difficult to locate the Pokemon Gym. The centre of the crater was filled with seawater, where over the hundreds of years since it had crashed onto the planet the ocean had eroded away chunks of stone and filled in the gaps. Erik couldn't fathom how deep the enormous pool of water went, but located directly at the midway point lay the building where he would challenge for the final badge.

The Gym was a strangely rectangular building seemed to be composed of some odd material. A navy blue block of rough stone with a heavy set metal door guarding the entrance, and no windows. Soar landed softly on the small patch of grass, which floated on the small island, as Erik descended before slamming the palm of his hand on the door.

A metallic thud echoed time after time as he thumped the door repeatedly, and each time he was met with no response from within.

Erik tried to force open the door, pulling at the edges with his hands, but once more it was no use. He moved his hand over the strange material that lined the walls, hoping to find a secret switch or telecommunications device, to no avail.

"Enough of this!" he shouted to anyone that was listening. "Soar, blast open this door!"

His Latios didn't need to be told twice, waiting a moment for his trainer to get to a safe distance. Soar shot an energy blast at the door which melted on impact, the thin metallic sheets that made up the door frying within the sweltering heat of the Latios's attack.

Erik stepped inside to see a huge room full of pools of water, some laying still and others bubbling calmly. Sprinklers lined the roof, ready to turn on at a moment's notice as a gym trainer loitered by a switch. The most eye catching feature of the room, however, was that all three walls in front of him remained hidden behind waterfalls. Cascades of water repeatedly crashed down into small bodies of water at the bottom, another gym trainer standing in swimwear underneath the waterfall furthest away from Erik.

"Hello, challenger," a third gym trainer called to Erik. She was in a full body swimsuit which clung tightly to her body as she hovered next to a small square section of glass flooring in the centre of the room. Drops of water flowed off of her short, blonde hair as she pierced Erik with steely blue eyes. "I'm Tiffany, and-"

"I don't care who you are!" Erik interrupted. "I'm here to take down Wallace."

"Oh, you don't know the rules," Tiffany responded proudly, although confusion drew itself across her features. "You have to defeat us to-"

"I know the rules, I have seven badges already," Erik retorted, he had already withdrawn Soar to his Pokeball and was scanning the room for signs of the leader. "Wallace knows who I am, he knows I don't need to defeat his lackies."

"Erm...Okay...One second," the confused woman replied, picking up a waterproof walkie-talkie from her pocket and speaking into it. "Wallace, sir, there's a guy here who wishes to challenge you without defeating us first. Says you know who he is."

"Is it that green haired kid again? He already got his badge, what more does he want? Directions to the Pokemon League?!" Wallace snapped back down the communication device, his usually calm melody of a voice in a frustrated strain.

"Wallace!" Erik roared. I'm here for you."

"Uh oh...Erik? I'll be up in a mo!" the device replied before cutting out. The sound of machinery blared into action as the glass square in the centre of the room ascended. It screeched and groaned until it reached a certain height, then one side of the cube slid open. Moments later, the slender figure of Wallace rose into the glass cube from below, extending a hand. "Come with me," the Sootopolis Gym Leader requested.

Erik showed no hesitation and half-ran towards the cube, entering into it with Wallace and descending into the floor with him.

"Our battle arena is right at the bottom of the crater," Wallace said, placing one hand on his hip and the stroking his clean-shaven chin with the other. Erik noted that the leader refused to make eye contact with him. "This glass elevator was constructed by-"

"Wallace I don't care," Erik snapped, staring at the Sootopolis Gym Leader with icy cold eyes. "Why did you betray us?" he followed, before his attention was diverted by the sights outside the glass container. He could see a vast ocean of creatures within the deep depths of the crater, Gyarados swam side by side with Tentacruel and Sharpedos as food floated within edible baskets for the Pokemon who played together joyfully.

"Because, Erik," Wallace wept, his voice changing from a strained tone to a whiny, high pitched noise. "Giovanni promised that if I helped, he would allow me to remain in charge of my Gym. I can't abandon my aquarium, it was my father's work and now mine! Please don't be mad at me for that! I don't know how you survived, you were doomed, I only thought that-"

"Oh stop whining!" Erik shouted so loudly that Wallace jumped slightly backwards. "I don't even know if we won or lost, I left the beach so I could defeat you. And that's what I'm going to do."

"But I-"

"Are you a gym leader or not?! Do your job!"

Wallace remained in a stunned silence as Erik admired a new object, the glass dome which the elevator was entering into. After descending into the dome, the glass cube stopped in place, with a side of glass opening on both Erik's left and right.

"You go to the left, I go right," Wallace said before racing out of the elevator and descending a white staircase. There was a line of stairs reaching downwards from Erik's side too, as the glass cube they rode on hovered over a giant fish tank.

Erik almost ran down the stairs, before realising at the bottom there was barely enough room for him to fit, although he could see almost the entirety of the fish tank from here. The water inside was so clear that he sighted Wallace on the other side, who also had little room to manoeuvre. The battle arena was to be the giant square container of water in front of him, which housed rock formations and beautiful corals. Scanning the tank, he noticed a rack containing six sets of underwater breathing apparatus bolted onto the bottom. Each of his Pokemon apart from Seal and Splash would have to withstand a barrage of attacks from Wallace's Pokemon, reach the bottom then equip the breathing equipment without running out of oxygen first.

"To make it interesting I always tell my challengers this," Wallace quivered. "The gear at the bottom absorbs electricity, so any electrical based attacks won't work unless you want your Pokemon to suffocate! Good luck!"

Erik shot him a warning glance, but the strange man was right. Dancer and Zap's type advantage was nullified. He grabbed Zap's Pokeball as Wallace threw a Luvdisc's capsule into the water, the small Pokemon appearing into the container.

"I don't believe a word this guy says," he spoke to Zap's Pokeball, before launching it upwards into the air, the capsule spinning round and round until it released the Electrode into the water.

"So you send out an electric Pokemon anyway," Wallace laughed, his usual graceful body language returning. "I know you were a fool, Erik."

Erik ignored the jibe whilst watching the battle unfold. Zap swam by rolling rapidly, using the motion to move towards the breathing gear. Wallace's Luvdisc calmly followed, reserving his energy and mockingly restraining himself from launching an attack.

"Oh, and the force of any non-water moves are slowed by the water pressure in the tank. So nullify any grass type attacks too!" Wallace giggled. Erik felt his blood boiling as beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.

"Get him, Zap!" Erik commanded his Electrode, who replied by charging up an electrical attack and attempting to fire it, but the breathing equipment attached to him soaked up the voltage.

"Perfect!" Wallace giggled again, as his Luvdisc launched a pulse through the water, throwing the Electrode backwards.

Zap tried a different method of attack, rolling into the sea-dwelling creature. The Luvdisc calmly moved aside and mocked Erik's Pokemon once more by remaining completely still and allowing Zap to charge again. The Electrode attempted to surround himself with electrical energy, but once more the breathing apparatus absorbed his efforts.

Erik threw Zap's Pokeball into the air and recalled his Electrode. He would have to think of another plan, and fast. Hoenn depended on his success.

* * *

The setting sun signalled dusk on the day of the battle for Hoenn as Wally waited patiently for the gentleman who stood atop the podium to speak. After obtaining eight badges and braving Victory Road, he was invited, along with many others, to enter a new "Pokemon League Tournament", the details of which were about to be explained. The podium rested against a backdrop of one single large building, constructed from stone, glass and metal in a chaotic mix. The building would contain many different arenas and battlegrounds within, all awaiting the finest trainers in Hoenn to pit their wits against one another.

"Thank you all for attending!" Steven Stone's voice boomed through the microphone as the last of the invited trainers arrived. The Champion of Hoenn scanned the thirty or so eager faces in front of him, with the former Elite Four by his side. Sidney, "Master of Dark Types", loitered to his left alongside Phoebe, the "Ghost Whisperer". To his right stood Glacia, the "Ice Queen", and Drake, "Lord of Dragons".

"I am delighted to announce the grand opening of the Pokemon League Tournament," Steven roared, to howls of approval from the trainers he overlooked. "Approved by the authorities of Hoenn, and following in the footsteps of Kanto's new-look tournament, the Elite Four are now no more than mere challengers to my crown! All twenty-seven of you are, by the time of this official announcement, the strongest trainers in Hoenn with all eight badges, so together with the old Elite Four shall enter a knockout tournament. The winner of this shall face me in a match to determine who shall become Hoenn's new Pokemon Champion!"

"Who will face who?" a woman from beside the young man spoke.

"There will be fives rounds of battles!" Steven declared. "All randomly drawn. Whoever wins all five matches shall be granted the privilege to face me in battle!"

"And when does the tournament start?" a man who had pushed his way to the front questioned. "And how often will the winner hold the title?"

"That's the most exciting part! The Authorities of Hoenn want the issue decided as soon as possible. So the tournament will start right now! The winner will be declared Champion until the next tournament in five years time!" Steven declared, to gasps from his expectant audience. "If you will all follow me inside this grand building, you will be matched up with one another and the first round of battles shall commence in twenty minutes time!"

"Wait!" Drake roared, The Lord of Dragons's voice was both commanding and fierce. "Where's our say in this?!"

"Drake," Steven responded, locking eyes with the furious man. "You and your friends have agreed to this already, you've all signed contracts."

"Forced to sign contracts you mean!" the man shouted in response for all to hear.

"Any more from you and you know the consequences," Steven barked back, to which the man dropped his head and murmured something unintelligible in response. "Now if you'd all like to follow me," the Champion spoke back to the audience.

Steven led the way inside the towering building, with the former Elite Four all following him inside. The four elite trainers looked despondent, almost as if they had been forced into resigning their positions. Usually a trainer who had acquired all eight badges would have to first defeat the Elite Four in a row, before challenging the Champion to a one-on-one fight. Almost like defeating a gym leader after beating his trainers first. The young man didn't know why it had been changed, but he suspected something more sinister was happening.

After all the other trainers had followed Steven inside, Wally waited so he could individually look at each one, searching for one person in particular.

"Erik," he whispered to himself. "You didn't make it. I'm so sorry."


	30. A Time For Heroes

Chapter Twenty-Six - A Time For Heroes

Erik felt strangely warm within the glass dome as he hastily paced up and down the tiled floor, pondering his next move. Light emanated from gaps in the tiles, illuminating the room in a soft glow as sunlight pierced the body of water the dome lay in, further adding to the brightness of the arena.

Wallace kept his gaze fixed on the watertank, his eyes trailing his Luvdisc who frollicked around the colourful reefs. Erik had made his decision, if Dancer and Zap were now ineffective in this battle, and Soar and Bat unable to breathe without the apparatus, then he would have to use his own water types. He also couldn't risk mega-evolution. A Mega Pokemon was wild and out of control, with powerful attacks. One loose blast of dark energy could shatter the tank they were in, trapping himself deep underwater.

Splash roared into action, bursting out of his Pokeball and snaking towards Luvdisc full of ferocity. Wallace's Pokemon attempted to flee, but held no opposition to the Gyarados's sheer speed. Splash grappled the Luvdisc within its coils and began squeezing violently until his opponent suffocated inside his vicelike grasp.

"Ugh," Wallace squawked. "You may have aquatic Pokemon, but I'm the best water-type trainer in Hoenn!" he declared, a glint of pride within his eyes. "No, not just Hoenn, the World!" Wallace corrected himself. The Sootopolis Gym Leader picked the next Pokeball from his pocket, launching it into the sky for a Whiscash to release itself into the large tank of water.

Erik remained silent, his thoughts fixated on managing his Pokemon well enough to win this fight. He withdrew Splash, saving the Gyarados for Wallace's tougher creatures and threw Seal into the fray. The Sealeo cut through the clear waters with ease, as Wallace's Whiscash darted towards the plentiful rock formations which nestled themselves among the reefs.

Wallace's Pokemon vanished within a plethora of rock outcroppings, and despite Seal's numerous water pulses, some shattering rocks they hit and others ricocheting in all directions, the Whiscash was nowhere to be seen. Seal then attempted a different method, gliding through crevices and gaps in the rocks in an effort to sight his foe.

Whiscash proved his knowledge of the terrain, ambushing Seal from below and launching the Sealeo into an assortment of stone which exploded as Erik's Pokemon thundered into the reefs. Wallace's creature moved to attack its weakened foe, sending splinters of smashed rock shooting outwards as he launched pulses through the water at Seal.

The Sealeo reacted almost as the rocks were upon him, spinning out of the way as the reefs cracked under the pressure of the stone barrage. Seal launched a beam of ice at his foe, the attack freezing the water in a straight line and smashing into the Whiscash who recoiled at the blow, before attacking again.

The two embroiled themselves within a vicious conflict as shards of shattered stone flicked up into the oceanic air. Seal smashed into a reef, before recovering and launching a retaliatory strike of ice that cut deep into his foe, the cold biting eagerly at the Whiscash's frail skin. Erik's Sealeo faltered in his next move, battered and weary, Seal struggled to dodge a water pulse causing his trainer to withdraw him.

"I should see how Bat copes under the water, facing a Pokemon whilst it is weak," Erik thought to himself, following through with his plan as Wallace tossed something high up into the air and into the tank. "What's that?" Erik demanded, as the Whiscash smashed the thrown container with a water of pulse then drank up the innards.

"A full restore," Wallace sang confidently. "A newly developed item shipped over by Team Rocket. It fully heals my Pokemon."

"Made using Magma's plans, I'd guess," Erik grumbled to himself, realising how much danger Bat was now in.

Erik's Golbat was lumbersome in movement and sluggish on the turn as Whiscash flew up the waters at speed to meet him. Bat plunged poisonous fangs into the creature, successfully managing to inflict poison upon it before being launched into the rocks. Erik again switched out his Pokemon, just as Whiscash prepared a finishing blow, and sent in Soar.

"Steven told me you caught a legendary Pokemon," Wallace started as he saw the Latios. "I wasn't impressed, I could catch one just as easily."

Erik felt rage stabbing at him, but ignored the temptation to snap back, instead watching his Latios glide through the tank.

Soar moved almost unimpeded by the water, but instead of using the breathing apparatus at the bottom of the tank, he flew up out of the container for air before descending back into the depths. Soar's psychic attacks were also unaffected by the water, the Latios easily frying the weakened Whiscash's mind, leaving Wallace to send out his favourite Pokemon, Milotic.

Soar twirled through the water out of the way of several beams of ice launched by Milotic before one smashed into him. A stray blast of frozen liquid snaked through the tank and wrapped itself around Latios's frame, encasing the legendary Pokemon within a tomb of ice. Erik quickly threw a Pokeball into the air, withdrawing Soar who was now frozen solid. His hopes of winning rested firmly within the coils of Splash as he sent his Gyarados out once more.

Two snake-like aquatic creatures locked themselves within a titanic battle as water pulses flew back and forth as barbaric bites countered beams of ice. Splash was propelled across the tank after being stricken by a water pulse. The Gyarados crashed into the glass next to Erik as cracks formed across the fractured glass surface. Erik temporarily feared for his life, but luckily the container held strong.

Wallace's Milotic moved as elegantly as her trainer, gracefully moving her slender body as she honed in on her weakened target. Splash shot out like a bullet, meeting the Milotic with a vigorous clench of his jaws. The Gyarados then launched a different kind of pulse as he spat out the Milotic's head, a pulse of dark energy. Remnants of the slivers of darkness left by his mega-evolution. The dark energy engulfed and swallowed the Milotic, before Splash sank to the reefs unconscious. Both Erik and Wallace were left with two Pokemon. Wallace led with a Sealeo, Erik following with Dancer.

Erik knew that his Pikachu had always been intelligent, so despite her disadvantage of being unable to use electrical attacks, he hoped that she would find a way of defeating Wallace. He watched on to see Dancer initially frustrated by the lack of her usually reliable speed and agility, but as she put on the breathing equipment, a glimmer in her eye warned Erik that his Pikachu had devised a plan.

After toying with her and mockingly allowing her to equip the apparatus, Wallace's Sealeo moved to attack, attempting to smash Dancer against the now knife-life rocks that jutted from the bottom of the container. Sealeo closed in, before Dancer pushed herself backwards, removed her breathing equipment and deftly attached it to the Sealeo. As Wallace's Pokemon struggled to remove the gear, Dancer launched waves of electricity towards her foe, the volts catching on the apparatus and frying the Sealeo within the contained charge.

Dancer moved to reattach the apparatus as the defeated Sealeo descended to the reefs, Wallace throwing a Seaking into the action thereafter and instructing his new Pokemon to maintain distance to avoid the trick for a second time. The Seaking immediately arrowed towards the rock formations, concealing itself within them.

"Finish this, Dancer!" Erik roared on his Pikachu, who endeavoured to oblige. Dancer removed the breathing equipment once more and let it sink slightly before launching bolts of electricity throughout the rocks, which, to her horror, absorbed the voltage. Seaking was fully protected from electrical attacks as Dancer reattached the apparatus once more.

Dancer tried again. She unclipped the gear and dropped it, allowing a few seconds for it to sink, then attacking with more electricity. Once more, the rocks absorbed her attacks to howls of laughter from Wallace. Dancer moved to swim back to her breathing gear, but was caught by a sudden movement. Seaking had emerged from the rocks and swam rapidly towards the gear, picking it up on her front horn before ascending to the surface and tossing the apparatus to her trainer.

Erik's Pikachu moved downwards to grab another set of equipment, but was caught within Seaking's circling movements. Wallace's Pokemon had trapped her, and whenever she attempted to move, a sharp jab of the Seaking's horn threw Dancer backwards.

"Dancer!", Erik shouted in horror. As more and more air escaped Dancer's lungs, he threw her Pokeball into the sky. "You can't do that!" Erik followed as Dancer's Pokeball was knocked out of the air by Wallace's thrown item, the breathing apparatus.

"Go on then," he chuckled. "Report me to the authorities!"

Erik growled before he grimaced, then he picked up the thrown equipment that had landed next to him. It had smashed on impact with the tiled floor and no longer looked usable. He glanced back to Dancer whose face had turned to a faint blue hue, she wouldn't last much longer.

"Come on girl," Erik whispered as Dancer faltered. The Pikachu gasped for air and instead gulped a mouthful of water. "Dancer!" Erik roared. "You can do this!"

The Pikachu looked her trainer in the eye and summoned a slight smile, before Erik saw a weak glimmer within her dark, beady pupils. Dancer mustered her remaining energy and fried the container with lightning, electricity surrounding the waters and defeating the Seaking within. Erik grabbed her Pokeball once more as Wallace collapsed to his knees, launching it into the sky and withdrawing his Pikachu to safety. He had won his final badge and was now able to challenge the Elite Four, and then, the Champion.

"Oh…" a solemn noise squeaked out of Wallace's mouth.

"Hand over your badge!" Erik demanded, climbing back up the stairway onto the glass elevator.

"Here you go," the despondent Wallace replied, taking the badge out of his trouser pocket and handing it to Erik after joining the trainer on the elevator. The two ascended through the aquarium in silence, Erik's thoughts focused on the Elite Four.

The glass door creaked open before both Erik and Wallace stepped out. The Sootopolis refused to make eye contact with the victor once more as he skulked away sorely.

"Not going to say anything?" Erik teased. "Oh well, off to defeat the Elite Four for me, and when I become Champion, your Gym is the first thing I'll take from you."

"You idiot!" Wallace snapped back, the Gym Leader shaking as he lost his cool. "There is no more Elite Four!"

"What?" Erik wheezed, seeing Wallace stagger backwards as his eyes widened, like the Gym Leader had revealed a secret he wasn't supposed to.

"Forget what I-"

"No Wallace, tell me what you mean by that!"

"Oh...It's just…" Wallace began, before Erik closed in as the man backed away slowly. The Gym trainers surrounded their leader, stopping Erik from coming any closer.

"Wallace," Erik growled, before he saw the man's body expression visibly buckle under the pressure.

"Okay, okay!" he sang like a man who couldn't keep a secret. "Giovanni had a couple of contingency plans in mind in case he was defeated during the Battle of Route 104," Wallace bleated. "He knew he had such a hold on Hoenn that the only way you could unite and rally the region was if you became Champion."

"So what did he do? He couldn't stop people from challenging the Elite Four and Champion, there would be riots. Trainers who had grafted their whole lives, got eight badges and wanted to challenge would rebel against the authorities!"

"He knows this. Over in Kanto they abolished the Elite Four a couple of months ago, and introduced a new tournament, obviously fixed in Rocket's favour. The winner of this knockout tournament would challenge the Champion to decide on who would be the new one."

"So there's now a tournament fixed by Rocket over here in Hoenn?"

"Well it would be too difficult to fix as our region is not yet under Giovanni's thumb. Steven is in charge of making sure the right people get to the right places. And to make sure the tournament has finished by the time you arrive."

"It's already started?"

"I don't know, I've been here holding you off. But what I do know is that they plan to host a tournament every few years, if you don't win this one, you have no hope."

Erik bolted from the room. He had his eight badges and he was going to make sure he entered the tournament before it began.

* * *

"I will need each and every one of you for this 'Tournament'" Erik instructed his team who all lay outside their Pokeballs. A crisp wind fluttered through the grass before entering the cave's open mouth as Erik and his team rested outside. Dawn had arrived as Bat twirled playfully in the open sky, the morning sun peeking through vast grey clouds and resting on Soar's back, the Latios watching his trainer attentively. Dancer darted around flower beds, training her agility and honing her speed whilst Rocky, Seal and Splash all sat in front of Erik, nestled within the freshly cut lawns of Ever Grande City.

Whilst called a "City", Ever Grande was little more than a miniature hamlet. A Pokemon centre rested next to the hotel where Erik and his team spent the night after a long day of battling and travelling. A score of wooden huts lined up along the cliffside where residents lived peacefully away from the populous, bustling areas of Hoenn. The only visitors they received were trainers wishing to pass through the cave to the north to challenge the Pokemon League.

The cave, or "Victory Road", as it was known, loomed ahead of Erik dauntingly. The cavern itself was supposedly simple to navigate, but was infamously filled with tough trainers who were all looking to prove themselves against one another before they challenged the Elite Four. Erik guessed that they would be gone now, eagerly queuing for their place in the new "Pokemon League Tournament".

Erik shook his head once more, he had lost count of the amount of times he forced himself to rattle away the poisonous thoughts which had made a home within his mind. Only one thing mattered to him now, and that was becoming Champion and fulfilling his father's final wish. Doing that would stop Team Rocket and unite Hoenn to take the fight to Team Rocket in Kanto itself.

"We both know that the one you blame is yourself, and we both know that you're right too," Giovanni's words pierced Erik's mental armour. The Team Rocket boss wasn't wrong, it was his own fault. May, Norman, Blaze and all the others. Gone because of his mistakes, gone because of his own weaknesses.

A roar from one of his Pokemon startled him. His other Pokemon joined in, a chorus of animalistic shouts had begun echoing around the cave entrance. Adrenaline gushed through Erik's veins, he had to carry on for those who were still here.

Splash roared into the sky where Bat squawked merrily. Rocky shouted in Erik's direction as Soar looped around in the air howlng passionately. Dancer strode up to Erik and grabbed his hand. She had turned from a contest Pikachu who hated the very notion of battle to one of his most reliable warriors. Erik looked to Seal, and had to shield his eyes.

His Sealeo was engulfed in a fiercely bright white light, and after a few moments, gone. In his place, a Walrein stood on his hind legs, with his flippers reaching out into the sky. The giant blue creature roared so vehemently his two giant tusks rattled violently. Erik's Pokemon were with him, now was the time for him to march through Victory Road and onto the tournament.

* * *

The winding trails of Victory Road proved as easy to navigate as the rumours told, and as devoid of human life as Erik imagined. He had captured a Lairon within, naming it Iron and sending it to storage. Its evolved form, Aggron, would be a crucial addition to his team, but he didn't wish to tinker with the settled party he took with him.

Daylight penetrated a gap at the end of the dirt road as boulders lined the edges of narrow corridors and slender pathways. Grey and brown blended together to compile the tediously monotonous stretches of road which Erik had traversed, but now he sighted sunlight once more, a fresh wave of relief breezed through him.

Victory Road had been a sharp upward rise, and the Pokemon League rested at the summit of a colossal cliff. Stepping out into the glaring sun, Erik felt a bitter wind bite at his skin. Shuddering, he forced himself onwards passed the cold. The cliff overlooked the ocean leading up to Mossdeep City, the island appearing microscopic from the sheer height Erik was standing as Wingulls and Pelippers fluttered nosily around him.

The Pokemon League itself consisted of a single, gigantic building which was a strange mix of stone layers, glass windows and metal support beams. As Erik's vision ascended the many floors the building only appeared more chaotic, stone turned to brick and glass to more metal and although he could hardly see the buildings roof, Erik swore a battle arena rested upon it.

The small dirt road and surrounding patches of grass and flowerbeds that connected Victory Road to the Pokemon League were vacated, to Erik's horror. He realised that this must mean that the tournament had already begun, Wallace was right. He stormed towards the automatic glass doors which slid open upon detecting the young trainer from Kanto in their midst.

The reception area was unremarkable, a square shaped room painted in oranges and reds with a dozen doors dotted around ahead of a pair of desks, both manned by a receptionist.

"I'm sorry Sir," the lady behind the left desk spoke, an elderly woman wearing a colourfully patterned dress. "The tournament has already begun, I'm afraid you're too late."

"Which door leads to it?" Erik demanded, a flare of anger surging through him. After all he had done, after all he had been through, he wasn't about to let a pair of elderly women stop him.

"The doors lead to many different arenas and battlegrounds," the lady on the right said, she sported a set of plain black and white shirt and trousers. "I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave."

"When did the tournament start," Erik roared, to which the two ladies jumped backwards.

"Yesterday, but they've already completed the first three rounds. In fact, I think round four is beginning soon," the first lady replied.

"Where?!" Erik shouted. "Which door?"

"Well," the second woman spoke hesitantly. "There's two battles-"

"Which door?!" Erik roared, advancing to the left desk and slamming his fists down. The lady on the right hand side pointed to a door behind her, to which Erik slammed through a turnstile which separated the desks and proceeded through the door.

He entered a huge stadium with a large mound of grass as the centrepiece. The mound sat on an island, with fours bridges leading off in different directions sat atop a deep, wide moat. To the east rested a field of sand, home to rocky outcrops. The bridge to the west of the mound rode off into a ruined stone two-story building, as slanted and chipped rock served as a defensive position for any Pokemon who dared enter.

Erik took a moment to stop looking horizontally, and gaze upwards. Whilst the arena was square, the top was dome shaped, and allowed a lot of space for winged Pokemon to maneuver. Erik returned his vision to the other two bridges, the one to the south leading to both him and one of the challengers. He recognised the man as Sidney, "Master of Dark Types". A strange looking man who almost looked like a Pokemon himself, crouching as if he had a bung knee with a nothing but a red wisp of hair of his head. The bridge to the north bought Erik his greatest surprise. At the end of it stood Wally.

"Ahh, Erik!" A voice boomed through a tannoy system, causing Erik to notice speakers and cameras built into black concrete walls which lined the arena. "So nice of you to join us!" Steven's iconic voice blared.

"Erik!" Wally shouted, finally noticing the trainer who had barged into the room. The battle had not yet started, as both Wally and Sidney rested hands on their belts, considering which Pokeball to choose.

"Steven!" Erik roared. "I challenge you!"

"Nope," Steven responded. "You're too late. Anyone who wishes to challenge needs to win five rounds before they do so. And these two have already won three of them."

"Then give me five trainers to fight!" Erik demanded.

"No can do, my friend," the tannoy responded calmly. "As we speak, Drake has just defeated Phoebe, and with Glacia losing to Sidney last round, only three trainers remain."

"You're a coward, Steven!"

"No, just like to play fair. How would all the other contestants respond if I tell them that I've allowed a trainer to skip two rounds! Preposterous!" the man responded sarcastically.

"Erik," Wally shouted across to his friend. "Take my place. Norman tasked me with taking your place, but only if you failed. You showed me how to get this far, it's only because of you I believed in myself enough to become as strong of a trainer as I have."

"Ugh," the tannoy responded to Wally's suggestion. "There's no stopping you, is there, Erik. I suppose I can allow you to enter the tournament as a late contestant, but you still have to survive five rounds, against the toughest five trainers."

"So be it," Erik hissed.

"Then first, you will have to face your friend. Wally. The winner will decide who takes his place in this battle, but as you will both know the battlefield afterwards it gives you an unfair advantage on Sidney. So the winner will face Sidney in his own personal arena."

"But surely that means-" Wally attempted to counter Steven, before Erik interrupted.

"You can try and stop me using whatever means you wish, Steven, but nothing will stop me from defeating you!"

"Will shall see about that," the tannoy replied, before static replaced Steven's voice.

"May the best trainer win," Wally declared to Erik, as Sidney left the room without a glance at Erik. Presumably to watch the battle through cameras and study both trainers' fighting style.

"May the best trainer win," Erik repeated to Wally, flashing his friend a slight smile.

* * *

The arena's stale air threatened to suffocate Erik as he stood within its lukewarm embrace. He eyed Wally across the room, his friend's fingers touching each Pokeball on his belt as the young man considered his first move. As he watched his opponent, Erik noticed something.

"Only five Pokeballs?" Erik shouted to Wally, realising that his foe had a Pokemon missing from his belt.

"I lost my Milotic last round," Wally replied, his once frail voice now laced with confidence and belief. "They only allow you to change your team in storage after the first round, after that you have to stick with the six."

"So the winner of this will face Steven with half a team left, I knew this was all fixed in his favour," Erik hissed whilst eyeing the tannoy. "Does he even allow trainers to heal their Pokemon after each round?"

"Yes," Wally replied, to Erik's surprise. "A nurse will come in and look over the winner's Pokemon, healing any survivors."

Erik felt a tinge of suspicion as his friend's words, but said no more. Now it was time to fight.

"To make it fair," Wally called out once more. "How about we pick our first Pokemon at the same time and throw our Pokeballs together?"

"Fine," Erik responded, picking Bat's Pokeball off his belt. His Golbat was versatile and would be able to use the high domed ceiling to his advantage. They threw out their Pokemon together, Wally having chosen an Altaria.

The two waged war in the skies above the mound of grass, Bat using his superior agility to dodge the Altaria's overwhelming size and power. Wally's Pokemon breathed dragon fire, then launched a pulse of draconic energy which screeched passed the Golbat who had twirled out of the way. The pulse rampaged through the ruins, tearing through the large stone structure and sending rock fragments shooting off in a hundred directions.

Bat countered the Altaria whilst she was distracted by the ruins (which remained largely in tact in the aftermath despite Erik's initial thoughts) by lodging poisonous fangs within the dragon's skin. Erik's Golbat clung on with all his willpower as the Altaria tried to shake him off.

"Ram him into the building!" Wally encouraged his Pokemon, who responded instantly. The Altaria flew towards the ruins, turning on her side so the Golbat attached to her would face the blow, and smashed into the grey-stone building.

The two fighters were lost to Erik's vision as dust piled into the air above the ruin. More stone had collapsed on impact and a painful screech could be heard from both Pokemon as they smashed into the decaying building. Suddenly, Altaria emerged. With no sign of Bat.

Moments went by with no sign of the Golbat as Wally's Pokemon swivelled in the sky, arching her bruised back and preparing to devastate the decaying structure with dragon fire. Erik knew Bat was still alive, he felt it within him. When he had lost a Pokemon before he had felt a soul-tearing pain deep inside him, but this time, nothing was present.

"Altaria finish him!" Wally commanded, recognising that the Golbat was still alive. His Pokemon obeyed, lighting the ruins with dragon breath as faint flames rose from the scorched stone roof. The Altaria followed with a series of draconic pulses, the power of which shattered the stone as more dust rose from the deteriorated rock.

"Hold on," Erik whispered to himself, holding his hand to his heart.

"The supports!" Wally shouted in realisation. "Altaria, take out the supports!"

A moment's hesitation followed as Altaria struggled to comprehend her orders, until finally she understood. Swooping down to the surface, she launched pulses of energy at the building's failing support beams, which fractured before exploding under the pressure. The entirety of the ruins fell down upon the Pokemon who was hiding within.

"Bat!" Erik roared. "Not another. Please not another one," he begged to no one as dust filled the entire left hand side of the stadium, the Altaria hidden within the cloud. A patch of dim discolouration lay within the smoke where the ruins once were, too bright to be Wally's Pokemon as Erik considered why he had not felt the pain.

A screech echoed around the arena, emanating from within the dust cloud. As the smoke cleared, Altaria tumbled into the wreckage. A Crobat had its fangs piercing her skin.

"Bat!" Erik roared in glee.

"Altaria!" Wally shouted in horror, as his dragon-type crashed into the ground. The Crobat dislodged his fangs and spat bolts of poison at his downed foe, before the weakened creature finished the fight with a poisonous aerial bombardment, shooting streams and bolts of toxic liquid at his foe.

"I'll get that Bat!" Wally roared, half fiercely, half playfully. It was clear to Erik both how much Wally respected him, and how much this battle meant to the young trainer. Almost as if Wally had been waiting for this battle for a long time, to prove to himself how far he had come.

Magneton was Wally's next Pokemon, the steel and electric dual-type floated towards the centre of the battlefield in preparation for the Crobat. Instead, Erik recalled Bat and allowed Rocky to fight in his place.

"Blaze used to melt steel Pokemon with ease, especially Magnemites and Magnetons," Erik remembered, bowing his head slightly as the thought evoked memories of his previous battles. "No," he whispered to himself. "Now is not the time, I must defeat Steven and become Champion!"

"Magneton shock him!" Wally commanded his fighter, who immediately responded by launching electrical waves at the Camerupt. Rocky soaked them up as he absorbed the electricity within himself, before galloping off towards the mini-desert to his right. Erik's Camerupt concealed himself within a small rock formation, anticipating the Magneton to follow him within.

"Don't let him get away Magneton!" Wally barked towards his friend. Erik noting that his friend's rashness, borne of his eagerness to defeat him, was costing Wally.

The Magneton floated towards the desert area, where he was met by violent shaking. Rocky had summoned a mini-earthquake by stomping down on the ground, mustering up energy and roaring as powerfully as possible. As the ground rocked vigorously, Rocky smacked stones with his front feet towards his foe. The rocks, coupled with the fierce tremors, fractured the Magneton's metallic skin. Erik's Camerupt finished the duel with fire, scolding Wally's Pokemon with red-hot flames.

As Wally grimaced and tossed his next Pokeball into the sky, Rocky remained on the battlefield, disguising himself once more in the rocky outcrops to face his next opponent, a Roselia.

"Don't let him ambush you!" Wally yelled to his grass-type, who cowered slightly in fear of her fire-type opponent before tentatively advancing towards the sandpit. Roselia lifted her flower covered arms into the air, before lowering and pointing them at narrow crevices in the rock faces. Beams of green light erupted from the flowers, honing in on cuts and holes within the rockfaces in direct straight lines.

Rocky remained stoic as beams smashed into rocks surrounding him, bellowing fiercely in an effort to hinder his opponent. Roselia ceased her onslaught as the Camerupt remained unharmed, lifting her arms into the air once more then lowering them, targeting the rocks Rocky concealed himself behind.

Leaves like razors severed rocks as if they were made of paper. A howl of pain burst out of the outcrops as leaves planted themselves within Rocky's skin. As the stones fell to pieces, Erik's Camerupt was left facing down the Roselia with no cover as Wally's creature stopped to regain her breath.

Rocky bellowed once more, a resounding roar that vibrated Erik's ears. The Camerupt stamped his four feet robustly on the floor launching a flamethrower out of the twin holes on his back. The flames shot upwards, arced, then crashed into Roselia, consuming Wally's Pokemon whole.

"No!" Wally yelled after losing yet another Pokemon. He was down to his final two with Erik yet to lose a single fighter.

"Are you holding back?" Erik asked suspiciously, the question had been nagging him since the start of the battle.

"Yes," the tannoy system blared into life once more. "Wally, are you holding back?" Steven's voice blustered.

"No," the young man replied stubbornly. Erik could sense the frustration emanating from him.

"You seem like an entirely different trainer to the one who won his first three battles. There was a man who was calm, confident and full of belief. Now we have a boy barking orders and looking desperate. No wonder you're being thrashed," Steven said mockingly. Erik knew the Champion was trying to fire Wally up, he wanted the two to decimate each others' teams.

"Shut up!" Wally screamed at Steven, sounding like the young boy he used to be. "I'll show you!" he added, as one hand reached for another Pokeball on his belt, the other clasped something within his pocket. Erik couldn't tell what.

Wally quickly released the object in his pocket from his grasp, sending a Delcatty onto the battlefield. Erik responded by withdrawing Rocky who had taken a few hits, and releasing Seal, the newly evolved Walrein promptly leaping into the moat that surrounded the mound of grass.

Delcatty strived to detect her opponent in the depths, struggling to identify the Walrein who was submerged deep within. Wally's Pokemon crept cautiously as she descended the grassy knoll, tip-toeing gently as neatly trimmed blades of grass brushed her paws. A soft scent filled her nostrils as the flower smelling aroma temporarily distracted her from her task. It was then that the Walrein struck.

Seal surfaced, water spraying harshly in all directions as the Walrein punctured the Delcatty with an enormous pair of tusks. The ice-cold fangs sunk deeply into Wally's Pokemon as her trainer gasped in terror.

Delcatty squealed in agony as the cold tormented her insides. Seal vanished within the river once more, before emerging within moments, this time summoning the waters around him to wash away Wally's creature. Seal suffocated the Delcatty within a watery tomb before the Walrein slammed his bulky frame into her, defeating his foe. Wally was down to his final Pokemon as he returned a hand to his pocket.

"You've been quiet?" Erik questioned his opponent after noticing Wally remaining eerily silent during the last battle. "You alright?"

"I can't hold anything back against you anymore," Wally replied. "I can't lose my Ralts."

"Then don't hold anything back," Erik replied sternly. "I know I won't."

He withdrew Seal, releasing Splash in his place. Wally released a Gallade from his remaining Pokeball, the final evolution of a male Ralts.

"Your dad gave me something to make sure I won this tournament if you failed. I know you think you've won this fight, and that all I am is your backup incase you didn't make it. But Norman also told me to be your final test if you did succeed, so that we both knew you were strong enough. And I refuse to lose my Ralts!" Wally declared, pulling a strange object from his pocket.

"Wait!" Erik roared. "Don't use that!" he urged his friend who clasped the megastone in his hand. But it was of no use. Wally had made his choice, and now pointed the stone towards his Gallade who screeched in agony.

Erik retaliated the only way he could, by mega-evolving his own Gyarados.

The iconic black cloud shrouded Wally's Gallade within its midst. Within moments, two ruby red orbs penetrated the darkness, piercing through the fog and meeting Mega-Splashs's own. Emerging from the cloud, the Mega-Gallade had doubled in size, and where he was once green and white, the Pokemon's body was now coal-black. Although his head kept the same colour scheme, piercing red eyes aside, the green dull blades on his arms had transformed into black and red knives. He also now sported a crimson cape that clung to his shoulders and trailed along the floor.

Mega-Gallade sprinted towards the other Mega Pokemon, the Mega-Gyarados responding by launching himself at the onrushing foe and leaping towards Wally's creature. Mega-Splash was quicker, wrapping his coils around the Mega-Gallade before tightening his grasp on his opponent as the Wally's Pokemon attempted desperately to wrench free. Mega-Gallade deflected a savage bite with one sword-arm then cleaved through Mega-Splashes tough skin with the other. A roar of pain erupted from Erik's Pokemon before the Mega-Gallade began a barrage of slicing punches. Mega-Splash recoiled with his punctured skin throbbing, as his tormentor continued his ceaseless assault.

Mega-Splash shot a beam of ice from his gaping mouth, the attack smashing into the mound and leaving a pathway for the Mega-Gallade to ascend. Wally's Pokemon leapt off the ice path and onto the Mega-Gyarados neck, where he began pummeling his foe once more.

"Keep it up!" Wally shouted to his Pokemon in encouragement.

"Idiot," Erik growled quietly, knowing that Wally's Pokemon would never acknowledge his trainer's words. It was also how Erik knew he was helpless. He had no way to advise or reinvigorate his Pokemon, so when Mega-Splash de-evolved into an ordinary Gyarados, he prepared himself for the worst.

"Splash," he whispered as the Gyarados turned to look his trainer in the eye. "I've lost you too."

"Yes!" Wally howled. "I'm going to win! Now, Ralts," he said, attempting to command his Mega-Pokemon. "Finish him."

His Pokemon obliged, but not due to his trainer's calls. Erik looked away and clutched his chest with his hand as the soul-tearing pain screeched across his body, ripping through his heart. The bond between himself and Splash had been strong.

"Now, Ralts, go to the top of that mound and wait for Erik's next Pokemon," Wally instructed his Pokemon, who turned sharply at the attempted command. "Ralts?" Wally squeaked, as his Mega-Gallade began advancing towards him, blades raised in the air. "Ralts! What are you-" Wally began, before the onrushing Gallade was within inches of himself, a deafening roar echoed around the room.

Erik looked to his Mega-Latios. He had made certain to keep the Masterball in his grasp as the sight of Mega-Soar evoked heart-shattering memories. He envisioned the scene again which had remained prevalent within his mind, where the Mega-Latios disintegrated Blaze within one of his dark energy blasts.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by his Pokemon grappling the Mega-Gallade and ascending to the highest point of the room.

Vicious swipes by the Mega-Gallade cleaved deep within the Mega-Latios, piercing Mega-Soar's skin and forcing the fearsome beast to endure as he attempted his lethal assault. Erik's Pokemon rose to the roof as Mega-Gallade continued its desperate assault, waving his arms in a furious attempt to slice into his foe and save himself, most swings missing completely, but the rare blow connecting and causing a shrill cry to erupt from Mega-Soar. The Mega-Latios rose as high as he could, then dropped his foe from the perilous height. As Mega-Gallade tumbled to the ground, Mega-Soar launched a dark energy blast which engulfed Wally's Pokemon, who then smashed into the mound of grass and dirt below. The Mega-Gallade de-evolved as Mega-Soar moved to eliminate any remaining life within Wally's favourite Pokemon.

"Ralts!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "No!"

Mega-Soar ignored the trainer's calls, and prepared a final dark energy blast.

Erik launched the Masterball into the sky, saving his friend's Pokemon at the decisive moment. The capsule consumed the Mega-Latios just as the beast was about to unleash its attack, de-evolving the monster within.

Wally sprinted over to his fallen Pokemon and clutched the weakened Gallade, whispering in his friend's ear as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. Erik could sense the relief in the young man, losing his "Ralts" would've hit Wally as hard as the loss of Blaze hit himself.

"Thank you," Wally gasped. "And good luck. With everything you've been through, you deserve this," the young trainer followed as Erik approached him, offering him a hand as Wally climbed back to his feet.

"Erik wins round one!" Steven declared over the microphone. "As per the rules, I shall allow you to be healed by our nurses and choose one of your Pokemon from storage to replace that Gyarados. But from now onwards, no replacements! After healing, please proceed through the first door on your left once in the reception area to face Sidney."

"Bring it on," Erik growled, picturing the faces of those who sacrificed himself so he could get this far. "It's my fault you're all gone. But I promise you. I shall unite this region and save Hoenn for you all."


	31. Bonds

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Bonds

Erik shivered ominously as he eyed the looming two-tier castle in front of him. Darkness inhabited each slit in the wall that would pass as a window, with frail flames dancing atop wooden torches sitting above a raised portcullis, the sharp points at the end gleaming menacingly in the dim torchlight. The moderately sized mouth in which the portcullis rested made for the castle's entrance, as Erik sighted narrow, shadowy corridors splitting off both to the left and the right at an angle.

As Erik crunched through the crisp, dried out grass towards a small machine he considered his opponent who remained hidden behind the daunting structure. The man he now faced in battle would know every corridor, every pathway and every crevice within the beckoning labyrinth. This was Sidney's arena.

He cautiously crept towards the strange machine, still quite some way away from the castle, and studied it. The large panel sat above a stand, comprised entirely of metal. On its face lay a speaker, a microphone and a television screen surrounded by six different buttons. Erik assumed that each button linked to one of the six pairs of goggles which dangled from the panel's underside.

"Glacia fell before this labyrinth I have constructed," a voice hissed and crackled from the speakers, Erik rapidly releasing it was Sidney who spoke. "Now you will too, little boy."

"What is all this?" Erik queried, fiddling with a pair of goggles and moving his hand over the buttons linked to the television screen.

"That's where you will watch your Pokemon die," Sidney hissed, before his voice made way for static.

"So you crushed your friend Wally?" another voice took over the speaker. Steven's.

"Back off, Steven," Erik snapped, he was in a foul mood and had no time for the Champion's jibes.

"Only in round two and already losing your cool?" Steven laughed. "Oh well, you shan't make it any further. Sidney shall see to that!" Erik felt his blood pressure stubbornly rise as anger boiled within him. "As always, I'll be watching!" Steven finished.

Erik grabbed a Pokeball on his belt and release Iron beside him. Steven had aggravated him, but he knew that's exactly what the Champion was attempting to do, he had to keep himself focused. The Lairon beside him roared as Erik fitted the goggles onto him, he had chosen to replace the fallen Splash with Iron after his only allowed foray into storage during the tournament, and now he was stuck with the team of six who lay attached to his belt.

The screen on the panel lit up as it detected goggles attached to a Pokemon. The small television showed Erik exactly what Iron saw, as if he were looking out his Lairon's eyes.

"Iron," he spoke softly towards his newest addition to the team. "I don't know what awaits you inside, but trust in your steel armour and belief in yourself. We'll defeat this guy." The Pokemon purred towards his trainer, before slowly embarking on his journey towards the fortress.

As Iron disappeared into the castle and out of his sight, Erik switched to the screen, watching the battle unfold through his Pokemon's eyes.

Narrow, dark hallways were illuminated dimly by flames which leapt off the walls as they flickered and faded perilously atop wooden sticks. Metal grates rattled as Iron cautiously plodded along them as holes devoid of light lurked in the roof. Both Iron and his trainer suspected an attack from any direction, the whole labyrinth was set up perfectly for an ambush by Sidney's Pokemon.

A glimmer of movement snapped Iron's attention towards the grates below him as light reflected off the water below. A Mightyena sprung his trap, emerging from a hole in the roof. Sidney's Pokemon sunk his fangs into the distracted Lairon, puncturing his unarmoured sides, before retreating once more down the corridors using his superior speed.

Iron struggled in his attempts to keep pace, before stopping suddenly to regain breath. The Lairon's preferred fight was in the open, using his raw strength and thick, steel armour to overpower opponents. A battle within shadows was a costly mistake on Erik's part, and the trainer had no way of recalling his Pokemon unless Iron somehow retreated out of the castle before the Mightyena caught him. Erik then realised he also had no way to communicate with his Pokemon.

Sidney's Pokemon struck again. As Iron scanned the roofs, a metal grate screeched open from below him and terrifying fangs plunged into his underbelly, piercing his exposed skin amongst howls of pain.

As the Mightyena retreated, Iron made for the exit. Galloping along the thin hallways back to his trainer. The Lairon took a left, then a right, then another left, but only served to bury himself deeper within the labyrinth of musty, dank corridors. As Iron stopped to gather breath once more, shaking within his horrified frame, Sidney's Mightyena moved for a finishing blow.

"Iron," Erik whispered. He knew his bond with the Lairon was still fresh, and therefore weak, but he had to try to communicate with his Pokemon somehow. "Believe in yourself, I need you. We will get through this trial together, I promise. You just have to trust me."

The television screen lost picture, darkness consuming the screen as the Mightyena plunged his fangs into the Lairon for a final time. Erik slammed his eyes shut as he prepared for the tearing pain that relentlessly tormented him when he lost a Pokemon. It never came. He guessed that the bond between himself and his Pokemon was still too fragile for him to feel it.

A flash of light caught Erik's eye from the television, causing him to glance back to the screen. The picture had returned to show the Mightyena had been tossed off Iron and was now scrambling back to his feet.

Iron stood on his hind legs and summoned a miniature-earthquake as the Mightyena scampered away. It took Erik only a few moments to realise that his Lairon had evolved into an Aggron, and the newly evolved Pokemon was set to win his matchup as the roof tumbled down and crashed into the Mightyena in his attempts to retreat.

Erik pumped his fist into the air as his Aggron came back through the labyrinth towards him. Jaded but alive, the steel and ground dual type smashed through walls as if they were balsawood in a straight line directly back towards his trainer. The crushed stone walls also lead a direct pathway for any of Erik's Pokemon towards the centre of the castle, and a quick retreat for his team if they needed it, but he still felt as if the carved road through the fortress was merely a drop within the labyrinthian ocean.

He released Rocky into the fray, who entered the castle and instead of taking the path off to the left hand side as Iron did, Erik's Camerupt chose the path to the right. Erik turned his gaze once more towards the screen, seeing the labyrinth through his Camerupt's eyes.

Rocky tentatively crept along the dimly lit hallways, expecting an ambush from any angle. He refused to allow the calmly moving water trickling underneath his feet to distract him, and pressed on through the winding, ceaseless corridors with fire brimming in his mouth prepared for a swift retaliation if necessary.

Sudden movement snapped Rocky to attention. The Camerupt launched flames at the skittering sound as razor-sharp leaves fell to the floor, burnt to a crisp. Rocky stumbled over to the remnants of the failed attack, until a fierce blow smashed into his chest. A Shiftry began a barrage of blows, feinting before launching a sucker punch then rapidly striking with the other leaf-covered fist.

Rocky was thrown to the ground by the force of the barrage. The Camerupt struggled to his feet, readying another attack, but when he looked back, the Shiftry was gone, to be replaced by more sounds of movement.

"Rocky," Erik whispered, holding his hand to his chest and hoping the words would travel through his soul to his Camerupt's. "Blaze used to light up dark places with fire, try it."

Erik's Camerupt looked across the narrow corridor, before slowly walking backwards in an attempt to retreat, as if he hadn't heard his trainer. Sharp leaves rapidly came into his vision, painfully piercing his flesh as they planted themselves within his skin, seemingly striking from all directions. He had reached the end of the corridor as more leaves appeared in his sight.

Rocky bellowed, then released flames. His flamethrower incinerated the leaves, shooting out in a straight line and engulfing the entire corridor, illuminating it. As the flames died, shadows were cast in the fading light's remnants. The Shiftry was above him, lurking within a hidden hole in the roof.

"Got him," Erik shouted in glee, as his Camerupt ignited the Shiftry. Rocky began his steady retreat towards his trainer after defeating his opponent, before having to hasten his exit as water began flooding the castle's first tier.

Erik released Dancer in preparation for a water-typed opponent, the Pikachu attaching the goggles as her trainer fiddled with the buttons beside the screen, eventually finding the correct one. Dancer leapt into the castle at fast speed, using the rising water as a elevator to lift her to the second floor through one of the holes in the roof.

Moss painted the castle's cobblestone walls on the unremarkable second floor. A large square room with a score of gaps and crevices within the ground, all now filled with dank, dirty water. Torches once more dimly illuminated the second tier, and Erik guess tell the room was bitterly cold as the screen shook whilst Dancer shivered.

A large fin pointed out of a hole in the floor, before quickly vanishing back into the depths. Dancer reacted almost instantly, launching boisterous bolts of electricity towards the gap in the ground. A patch of water lit up temporarily, before the stone surface greedily soaked up the voltage. The fin appeared again, a different hole this time, but the end result remained reminiscent of the last as Dancer's attack was abolished by the cobblestone.

Erik knew that his Pikachu was forced to enter the water, whilst her foe remained in its element. Flashes of Dancer's struggles in her fight against Wallace sprang to Erik's mind as doubt and apprehension struck him. Before he had time to reach out to his Pokemon, Dancer dipped her toe in the water before diving into the lake.

The waters were pitch black as Dancer sank from the hole in the roof, a thin cone of light emanating from the room she had just left illuminating only her. She attempted to brighten her surroundings by emitting thin trickles of electricity, the currents conducting and partially lighting up small sections of the lake around herself. Which remained empty. She tried again, using a little more voltage this time, allowing her to see what was directly in front of her. A Sharpedo's gaping mouth.

Ferocious and robust jaws slammed down on Erik's Pikachu as Dancer clenched the Sharpedo's mouth with his hands and feet, flagging and failing in her desperate endeavours to prevent Sidney's Pokemon from crushing her within his knife-like teeth. Dancer shook violently at the effort as Erik searched his mind for a solution. His Pikachu cried in agony at the stress on her body as the Sharpedo's jaws lowered ever more, she was fighting an impossible battle and the only thing keeping her from her fate was time.

"Come on girl," Erik whispered, clutching his heart. "I remember stealing you from that contest, and you hated me. But you're all I have left from back then. Everyone we had with us then has been lost. Blaze, Ice, Roller, Leaf, Ninja...And all the others…" As tears pricked Erik's eyes the screen lit up.

Dancer had summoned the rest of her energy to electrify the Sharpedo from within, the aquatic beast recoiling and releasing her from his grip as Erik's Pikachu floated up towards the gap in the roof, towards oxygen and respite. The water drained back into the floor as Sharpedo was defeated, as Dancer jumped back to the first floor then forced her limp body down Iron's carved pathway, back towards her trainer and safety. Erik released Bat in her place.

Through the screen Erik could see Bat glide through lengthy hallways and swoop around sharp turns. Pools of water remained on the cobbled floors from where the corridors had flooded, as the torches mounted upon the walls had somehow relit themselves, flames dancing feebly on top. Erik's Crobat was at home within the dark, dank castle as he swept through yet another corridor, then around a corner, and into the next hallway. Until a blade sliced into him.

Bat flopped to the floor, smashing into the stone surface with a limp crash. An Absol loitered over him, the beast honing his blade with his sharp claws, preparing for a final flourish.

"Bat, come back to me," Erik ordered his Pokemon, once again whispering to himself and hoping his friend heard his words.

The Crobat ascended into the air once more and began its retreat, nimbly fluttering through the corridors at half his usual pace. Absol was chasing, and almost upon him as the thick blade atop its skull gleamed eagerly within the torchlight. Bat swooped around a corner, the Absol skidding as it sharply span around the bend, only a few paces away as it slowly but steadily caught up to Erik's Crobat.

Bat fiercely flapped his wings, attempting to force his bleeding body through the castle, his pursuer so close he could almost feel its breath on his skin. Hope found him in the form of beckoning light which pierced the castle's open mouth. He was within inches of the entrance when the Absol made his move, leaping into the air and pointing his bladed head in the Crobat's direction. As soon as the Absol was within range, he moved his head sideways to slash his foe with a wild swipe. A scream of pain erupted from the castle entrance before it alarmingly dissipated as the sufferer disintegrated within a beam of energy.

Erik had recalled Bat into his Pokeball at the last moment, as Soar annihilated the Absol with his signature attack. His Latios was too large to fly through the corridors, and too lumbersome on the ground to be risked, so Erik allowed Seal to take the final fight, his Walrein crawling into the dark tunnels of the labyrinth, preparing himself for whatever awaited within.

As Seal flopped through the corridors, leaves shot out from ahead, rapidly rotating through the air as fading firelight gleamed off of their sharp edges. Erik's Walrein scolded them within a beam of ice, the frozen leaves tumbling to the floor and smashing at the impact. Black needles like pins were next to fly through the corridor, many avoiding Seal's ice beams and piercing into his skin, resulting in wails of pain from the Walrein.

"Seal," Erik whispered. "Finish this."

His Walrein complied, roaring as he summoned the waters lying dormant underneath him which smashed through the grills and surrounded Seal. Erik's Pokemon launched waves of water down the corridor, riding one of them himself as he crashed into a Cacturne. As Sidney's Pokemon lay prone on the ground, Seal blasted him with beams of ice, finishing the fight as Erik won the second round of five.

* * *

Seal crawled out of the castle to join the rest of Erik's team as a nurse moved to each and every member, healing them all with potions and other various items. A noise crackled from the panel as the speaker blared into action.

"How did you conquer my castle?" Sidney's voice rasped through the panel.

"Two down, three to go, well done Erik!" Steven's voice called, cutting off the Master of Dark Types. "The two weakest, may I add?"

"Four to go," Erik corrected him as he spoke into the microphone. "I'm coming for you, and there's no way you're going to stop me."

"I won't have to. My good friend Phoebe will do that for me."

"Phoebe lost to Drake, she's out the tournament," Erik declared.

"You entered so late that only three trainers remained, I had to allow another two to re-enter, and as members of the old Elite Four, Phoebe and Glacia have been reinstated into the tournament."

"You keep trying to take me down. You'll keep failing. By the end of this day I will be Champion, Steven. I promise you that."

"We'll see about that, Erik," the Champion responded, before static again replaced his voice.

* * *

Dust, dirt and thin layers of smoke clogged the ground as cracked and decayed tombstones rose out of it. A purple tint surrounded the stadium, leading from the abandoned two story building on Erik's left, to the desolate hut on his right. At the other side of the room stood a woman whose dark skin was clad in nothing more than an aqua blue swimsuit with her short, dark hair sat flanked by two large flowers. Erik sensed that the "Ghost Whisperer" bore a dark underlayer masked by her innocent and energetic appearance.

After the nurse had healed Erik's team, she had directed him to the next arena. Phoebe's arena. It mirrored the trainer, as Erik sensed that the ordinary looking stadium was not as plain as it seemed.

"Heard you beat the little freak Sidney?" Phoebe shouted across the room, her high pitched voice catching in the smoke as Erik strained his ears to hear. "Doubt I have much chance then!" she giggled in response.

"Yeah right," Erik growled to himself, refusing to underestimate his opponent. She launched a Pokeball into the air, revealing her first Pokemon as a Dusclops. Erik followed with Seal, who flopped onto the floor and hastily waddled up onto the battlefield. The purple substance that contaminated the arena licked up at the Walrein and began lazily sucking at his lifeforce, draining him of his health. As Erik studied the battlefield for a solution, a shroud of fog enveloped the arena as Phoebe's Dusclops vanished within.

As Seal toiled within the purple smoke's embrace, a violet sphere of ghostly energy crashed into him, sapping at his strength as the Dusclops disappeared once more into the fog after the attack. Seal launched beams of ice in a dozen directions, desperately attempting to hit his aggressor who had vanished without leaving a trace.

A sinister flash of light beamed its way towards Seal, who consumed the ray unwillingly. Dusclops's attack dazzled and confused the Walrein, as Erik's Pokemon began to see many figures inhabiting the fog in his bewildered state. A legion of Dusclops moved in unison, and when one disappeared within a beam of ice, another shortly took its place as a shadowy figure lurking within the fog.

"Seal!," Erik boomed, an idea forming in his mind. "You can't attack them one by one, so attack them all at once!"

His Walrein stuttered as he comprehended the thought, then unleashed a violent wave of water so large it washed not only the entire army of Dusclops away, but penetrated the fog, cleaving the shroud in half as the smoke slowly dissipated from the arena after being split. Erik let out a slight cheer before seeing Phoebe's Dusclops limp back to her trainer, the Ghost Whisperer then handing her Pokemon a Full Restore.

"Where'd you get that?" Erik demanded of his foe, his voice travelling clearly through the cleaner air.

"Steven handed me one," Phoebe smiled sweetly. "He gave us all some from his personal collection."

"You heard her correctly," Steven's voice blared irritatingly through the speakers on the walls. Erik hadn't noticed them before now. "And more surprises await you throughout!"

"All you are is Giovanni's lapdog!" Erik yelled. "A pawn in his game!"

"Sore loser?" Steven retorted. "Anyway, back to the fight, I'm enjoying this," he finished, as his voice vanished.

Erik felt a tinge of relief as his gaze returned to the battlefield. For the first time since his battle with Wally, a straight-up fight was due to commence between Seal and Phoebe's Dusclops. Or so he had initially thought. The Dusclops performed a strange sort of ritual, culminating in his own sacrifice as he placed a curse upon Seal.

A strange mark carved itself onto Seal's back, as the Walrein's skin slowly lost its clear blue colour, becoming much more pale looking. As Seal turned back to Erik, his Pokemon collapsed and began heaving, unable to stand nevermind fight off the approaching Banette.

Erik acted swiftly, rapidly recalling Seal into his Pokeball as he released Rocky onto the battlefield. Phoebe's Banette fell back, retreating into the windowless hut. The battered wooden door creaked upon like it sensed the Pokemon's presence as the Banette turned to face the Camerupt. Her ghostly eyes seemed to glow a mesmeric crimson as she glared at Rocky, before the door shut itself, locking her within.

"Rocky, burn that hut down," Erik commanded his Pokemon, who resiliently refused. "Rocky?" he tried again, but it was too late. His Camerupt began marching towards the hut like a husk in a trance, caught within the Banette's hypnotic trap.

He had heard rumours of Phoebe, how her Pokemon had developed strange powers within her arena. The powers of possession. He recalled his father warning him of the Elite Four when he was young, how they all manipulated their opponents, their Pokemon, their arenas or all three. Whilst "The Master of Dark Types" loved to instill fear in his foes, ambushing them within his labyrinth, "The Ghost Whisperer" had somehow taught her Pokemon the powers of possession, and any opposing Pokemon that entered either the hut or the house would either fall mysteriously ill, or become possessed by her own. And his Camerupt was nearing the hut's door.

The thought terrified him. Not just the possession, but losing Rocky. It finally hit him, like a smack across the face, the realisation that ever since Blaze had fallen and he had taken his Numel out of storage to be the replacement fire type in his team, that's all Rocky had been to him. Blaze's replacement, a mere shadow of his former fire type. He had never treated Rocky fairly or shown him the love that his Numel, now a Camerupt, had deserved. And all Rocky had ever done was strive for that love, in constant attempts to prove himself to his trainer.

"I'm so sorry," Erik whispered whilst moving a hand to his heart. "I just miss Blaze, and I suppose I've never showed you the love you deserve because all I can think about is how much I blame myself for losing him. From now on, that will change, I promise. Please, I don't want to lose you like I did Blaze. I need you."

Rocky stopped, before turning his head to look at his trainer with sorrow-filled eyes. The door to the hut swung open as it detected a Pokemon's presence, as the Banette eagerly awaited on the other side, her eyes glowing fiercely. The Camerupt roared and smothered the small structure in fire, burning the hut to the ground and defeating the Banette within.

"How?!" Phoebe screeched. "How did you break the possession?!"

Erik grinned towards her then nodded in approval towards his Camerupt.

"Right," Phoebe began. "I will show you my true power!"

"Bring it on," Erik snapped back, as a Sableye faced up to Rocky.

The Ghost Whisperer's Sableye scampered to the abandoned house, shutting the creaky wooden door behind it. Rocky stumbled up to the building hesitantly, expecting an ambush which never came. Erik's Camerupt planted all four feet on the ground and launched a burst of flames at the wooden structure, expecting it to ignite and the fires to consume his opponent within.

Fire smacked against the wooden walls, deflecting off the building and shooting back towards the aggressor as Rocky was smothered within his own fires. Erik's Camerupt was left with no choice, he would have to enter the house if he were to take the fight to his opponent.

The wooden building creaked and swayed ominously as if it were trapped within a permanent gale of wind. The door remained shut until Rocky was within inches of it, whereupon it swung open violently, the dark interior enticing the Camerupt to enter.

Rocky put one paw inside, then another, before a foul violet gas ascended from the rotten floorboards and swam through the air as the Camerupt inhaled the toxins. Rocky retreated, galloping out of the house and back towards his trainer, like Seal before him, he collapsed, his frame a sickly pale.

"Bat will suit this," Erik thought as he recalled Rocky in his Pokeball and released his Crobat.

Bat shot towards the building, before drifting across the top floor in an effort to spot the Sableye within. Failing to sight his foe, the Crobat launched spits of poison through the windows, swooping back and forth between the openings as he attempted to strike his opponent with venom.

A translucent ball of spiritual energy emerged from one of the openings and smashed into Bat, knocking the Crobat off balance and seemingly forcing Erik's Pokemon into a trance. Bat fluttered through the air towards the building, descending towards the door which the Sableye opened, beckoning his opponent within. As Bat's skin turned pale, he collapsed on the floor just outside the house. Erik scrambled about his belt for the Pokeball, as Phoebe's Sableye dragged Bat into the rotting structure.

A sear of pain flashed across Erik's heart as the door slammed shut. Suddenly, agony struck as the bond between himself and his Pokemon was shattered, the soul-tearing pain wreaking havoc across his body.

"Bat!" he squeaked. It was as if with every Pokemon he lost, the torment would grow only more powerful. He wondered why few other trainer's reacted this way on losing a Pokemon, even Wally barely showed signs of it. Maybe the bonds he forged between his friends were so substantial, so pure, which would explain what Steven was telling him all those weeks ago. He was a rare breed of trainer, able to connect and bond with any Pokemon, and the created connections were so strong it made him such a formidable trainer.

"Dancer," Erik whispered to his next Pokeball. "Don't let that Sableye get away with this."

Erik's Pikachu leapt onto the battlefield, and considered how she could assault the house. Until both her and her trainer gasped in shock. Sableye suddenly emerged from within, walking out the front door as if the battle had been won, he strolled a few paces before opening his arms and looking to the sky, allowing Dancer to defeat him. The Pikachu willingly obliged, electrocuting Phoebe's Pokemon.

"Here we go!" Phoebe yelled excitedly. "I love this part!"

"What part-" Erik began, before both he and his Pikachu recoiled in horror. "What?!"

A Crobat flew out of one of the windows, skin sickly pale and eyes glowing a possessed purple.

"Possession!" Phoebe shouted in glee.

Through her shock, Dancer almost failed to react to Bat's venomous bite, deftly dodging the attack at the last moment, before the possessed Crobat spun around for a second strike, poison oozing from his fangs.

"Dancer!" Erik shouted in horror as Bat closed in. "You have to kill it! That's not Bat anymore!"

His Pikachu hesitated, struggling to comprehend her companion's change. The Crobat closed in, no trace of his soul left remaining within as bloodlust swallowed his eyes. Dancer struck up the courage to electrify her old friend, shooting bolts of electricity towards Bat and strangling her foe with the voltage. The Crobat tumbled to the ground as the violet in his eyes flickered then faded, leaving Erik to recall the defeated Pokemon back into its Pokeball.

"Wow!" Phoebe yelled. "Not many trainers beat their own Pokemon! I suppose I'll possess your Pikachu next!"

"Never!" Erik roared, the battle was taking a strain on him, he now feared for any of his Pokemon who entered the house, as a Banette floated within and beckoned Dancer to follow.

To Erik's terror, Dancer complied. His Pikachu had seemingly entered some sort of trance, strolling casually up to the house as the door opened to welcome her.

"Dancer," Erik whispered, clutching his chest in a desperate attempt to communicate with his Pokemon. "Please, after all we've been through together, you're all I have left now from back then. Don't you go too, please."

It was no use, his words had no effect on the hypnotised Pikachu who creeped to the door as the Banette opened her arms in a welcoming embrace. Dancer took one final look at her trainer, locking eyes with Erik, who attempted to contort his face into a smile at his Pokemon, to no response but a glint in Dancer's eye.

His Pikachu launched bolts of electricity through the opened door, shocking everything within as the currents conducted through the Banette, frying Phoebe's penultimate Pokemon as the Ghost Whisperer's hopes of winning the battle were left in the balance.

Erik breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the tension ease from his muscles. "Never do that to me again!" he shouted to Dancer who sprinted up to her trainer and hugged his leg. He made the decision to withdraw her and release Iron, as Phoebe's Dusknoir crept into the building.

"Tear it down," Erik growled fiercely to his Aggron, who responded stamping his feet ferociously as he sounded a chorus of barbaric roars, summoning an earthquake which ripped the building from its foundations and smashed the supports. As the building collapsed, the Dusknoir escaped, leaving the Ghost Whisperer's Pokemon in a matchup with Iron, with nothing to hide behind.

Iron roared once more, before the titanic beast dug through sections of the ground with his claws and hurled the chunks of earth at his foe. Phoebe's Dusknoir phased through the mounds of dirt tossed at him, avoiding the attacks and responding by launching spheres of spiritual energy at his foe.

Erik's Aggron endured the attacks as Phoebe's Dusknoir gulped a Full Restore before returning to the battlefield and continuing its relentless assault. Spheres of ghostly energy smashed into Iron time and time again the the Dusknoir twirled around his foe, the Aggron unable to connect with a swipe of his metallic tail.

Iron spread his feet on the ground as another attack crashed into him, the Dusknoir circled once more, preparing what could be the final assault on his opponent. Erik's Aggron summoned another earthquake which rocked the entire arena, cracks snaked their way through the ground, surrounding the two warring Pokemon. A fissure carved its way through the graveyard, cutting the ground underneath the Dusknoir and trapping Phoebe's Pokemon within its clutches. Iron stumbled over to the snared Dusknoir and crushed it with one vigorous stomp.

Erik had defeated the Ghost Whisperer.

"How?" Phoebe said despondently as Erik approached her.

"What's possession and how do I use it?" Erik demanded, to a shocked look from the woman. A nurse fluttered around his Pokemon, applying yet more healing items and curing both Seal and Rockys' illnesses.

"Most people who see it in action quiver in fear, you actually want to know how to use it?!" she said, exasperated.

"If it helps me take down Steven," Erik replied as the woman backed away slightly.

"It takes training and know-how, you wouldn't be able to learn that quickly. Besides, there are many secrets to it that you don't understand."

"What sort of secrets?" Erik replied, seeing a glimmer in Phoebe's eye which portrayed wisdom and age that belied the woman's young appearance.

"So then, Erik!" Steven interrupted as Phoebe slinked away. "You're through to round four! I'm actually going to start backing you against Glacia. Drake on the other hand, nope, you'll definitely lose that one."

"Glacia must be weak if you think I'll beat her!" Erik snapped backwards, confidence rising within him.

"Not at all! She'll take down a few of your Pokemon for sure. How's Bat by the way? He looked a little, I don't know, not like himself?"

Erik gritted his teeth, choking a retort before changing the subject. "Where's the Ice Queen's arena?"

* * *

Glacia's snow-white long hair clung to her shoulders as a flowing white dress covered her pale skin. The aging woman seemed impervious to the subzero temperatures within her arena, as her cool voice called over the sheets of ice towards Erik.

"So what do you think of my Palace?" she asked, her trailing voice sweet within the bitter air.

Erik scanned the stadium before replying. The "Ice Palace" was predominantly a layer of ice stretched across a frozen lake, the ice threatening to fracture if any Pokemon too heavy set foot on it. Icicles clung treacherously to the roof, with scores of them clustered near where Erik's Pokemon would lay. Erik himself stood within a few inches of snow, his feet entrenched within the covered ground as he shook violently in the frozen air. Ordering his Pokemon to attack from here would likely prove fruitless, as blocks of ice lurked atop the frozen lake, serving as a barrier to any attacks. The large mounds of ice appeared to encase metal beams, meaning even fire blasts would be soaked up by the blockades.

"Nothing?" Glacia spoke again, as Erik's thoughts remained fixed on his team. Rocky and Iron were far too heavy for the ice and Soar was weak against the type's attacks. Seal would take to the arena like a dream, although the Walrein's attacks would be cancelled out by his opponent's typing. It also remained to be seen whether Dancer could cope with the cold, and unless Glacia stocked water Pokemon, she would have no type advantage.

"Our challenger has gone quiet!" Steven spoke through another set of speakers, his voice piercing through the cold. "Weeping over Bat?"

Fire flared within him, warming his cold body and relieving his tight, shivering muscles. The more Steven taunted him, the more he couldn't wait to defeat him. He considered which Pokemon to use as Glacia tossed a Glalie's Pokeball into the air, the ice-type Pokemon emerging and levitating over the sheets of ice underneath him.

"Those metal beams covered in ice look tough," Erik whispered to a Pokeball. "I doubt Rocky could make the jump, but you can. Go get them, Iron."

Erik's Aggron roared as he appeared from within his capsule, but loitered by his trainer within the safety of the snow, unwilling to step on the treacherous ice despite Erik's encouraging calls.

Glacia's Glalie gleamed in the lights of cool blue and white that illuminated the room, the glass covers frozen as light beamed from the roof. The Ice Queen's Pokemon launched a beam of ice at her foe, the attack nearly striking Erik as Iron stepped aside to avoid it. Iron was forced to enter the battlefield, or risk his trainer being struck.

Iron attempted to step onto the ice, cautiously placing a metallic foot onto the frozen sheet which splintered loudly as the Aggron pushed his paw downwards. He would have to make the jump onto the nearest metal beam, which glinted menacingly within the light. Taking a step back, Iron then propelled himself forwards, floating through the air until he reached a beam. He landed. Then slipped.

A loud crash echoed around the room as Iron fell from the beam, falling into the lake as ice smashed around him. Freezing water greedily gobbled up the Aggron, threatening to consume Erik's Pokemon as he thrashed around in a desperate attempt to keep afloat. To Erik's surprise, Iron's steel armour protected him from the worst effects of the cold, as he floated upon the water.

"Not good," Glacia spoke whilst stroking her chin. "Glalie, time to trap him!"

The Ice Queen's Pokemon responded with blasts of ice, which covered the frozen lake and built up an added layer around Iron, whose attempts to climb out were met by more ice breaking off around him.

Iron's next move was to summon an earthquake, the arena shaking as small crevices formed within the sheet of ice. As the roof shook, icicles were forced loose, as a rain of sharp knives crashed into both Iron and the Glalie. Howls of pain reverberated around the arena as the Aggron was caught within the hail of icicles which pierced his metal skin, lodging themselves deep within.

The weakened Glalie shook the ice that had painfully collided with him from his frame before hastily assaulting the Aggron whilst he was in agony. Glacia's Pokemon snapped his teeth together in a series of intimidating sequences, as he closed in on Iron to apply a finishing blow. The Glalie was within inches, as he opened his mouth one final time, then snapped his jaws shut, connecting with Iron's skin.

Iron roared as the Ice Queen's Pokemon recoiled in anguish, his teeth snapping off the Aggron's metallic skin. Erik's Pokemon finished the fight, smashing into the Glalie with his long, trailing steel tail which sent his defeated foe rocketing into a frozen metal beam.

"I wish I could use Soar," Erik thought as recalled his Pokemon, sending out Dancer in his place as he sighted Glacia using a Walrein. "But he has weaknesses to all the old Elite Four's main types."

"Erik does it again!" Steven's voice annoyingly boomed around the room. "Who can stop him? No one it seems!"

"Not even you!" Erik snapped back, as Glacia remained silent. Her Walrein slipped into the water after cracking the ice with his tusks.

Dancer spotted the large figure lurking within the waters underneath her, and attacked. She launched bolts of electricity at the ice, directed towards the shadowy figure circling underneath, but her efforts rebounded off the lake's frozen blanket.

Glacia's Walrein crunched through the ice, sinking his tusks into Dancer and plunging back into the water, the Pikachu still attached to his fangs.

"Hold on!" Erik roared to his Pikachu who clung onto the thin layer of ice with all her might, slowly slipping as the Walrein's lumbering frame overpowered her own. Dancer lost the battle, falling into the lake and Glacia's Pokemon dragged her ever deeper. Erik lost sight of the fight, the hole in the ice all that remained within his vision of the conflict as sheets of ice blocked his view.

Suddenly, the ice lit up from underneath, as Dancer swam back up to the surface moments later. Shivering violently as the Walrein retreated back to its trainer.

"So he gave you some too?" Erik snapped at Glacia, who nursed her Pokemon's wounds using a Full Restore.

"Some what?" came the confounded reply. "By the by, my Walrein never falls for the same trick twice, and good luck with your Pikachu surviving the hypothermia," she finished as her Walrein slunk back into the depths.

Glacia's Pokemon swam swiftly, lurking near the ice and preparing a hit-and-run raid on Dancer, who sat shivering on the ice. As the Walrein closed in, the Pikachu sprung to life, blasting away a section of ice and frying her foe with electricity, shooting it into the exposed hole and electrocuting the Walrein within the waters. Erik realised that whilst they had all been distracted by the Full Restore, Dancer had begun melting the ice with sparks in preparation for the Walrein, also using the electricity to warm herself.

"Time to use a Walrein of my own," Erik whispered to the Pokeball in his hand. He launched Seal's capsule into the air, his Pokemon immediately diving under the ice, ready to copy Glacia's tactics. The Ice Queen had chosen a Froslass as her next Pokemon, the creature floating over the ice nonchalantly.

Seal emerged for a brief moment, but instead of attacking the Froslass, he launched a frozen beam towards a section of ice near to Erik. The Walrein submerged himself once more, dodging the Froslass's counter attacks before he reappeared and disappeared time and time again, strengthening the ice each time.

"What is he doing?!" Glacia yelled across the arena.

"You'll see in a mo'," Erik replied, before his Walrein emerged for a final time. He recalled Seal into his Pokeball and threw Rocky's towards the strengthened section of ice. Erik's Camerupt emerged onto the thick sheet, crashing down on the surface as a loud crack reverberated around the arena, but the ice stood strong, holding Rocky within its embrace.

"Oh dear," Glacia gasped as Rocky launched a barrage of flames at the exasperated Froslass. The flames smothered her, eventually consuming the Ice Queen's third Pokemon, leaving her down to just her final two.

"Uh oh, Glacia," Steven's voice sounded once more. "You're not going out this tournament once, but twice!"

"Oh go away!" the Ice Queen yelled towards the speakers, to harsh laughter from the Champion. She tossed another Froslass's Pokeball into the air, the ice and ghost dual-type moving with haste behind a metal support.

A blast of fire erupted from Rocky, as the Camerupt targeted the block of ice in which the Froslass concealed herself behind. The ice melted, but the metal beam underneath soaked up the fire as Froslass emerged, launching a dazzling ray of light towards Rocky, confusing the Camerupt and disorienting his senses.

Erik attempted to direct his Camerupt, shouting to his Pokemon that Froslass had concealed herself behind a block of ice once more. Rocky, however, saw a handful of Froslass, all hiding themselves behind a different frozen metal beam. Panicked, the Camerupt launched flames in all directions, towards each and every block of ice and straining his body through the exhaustion. Furthermore, Rocky almost slipped into the thin layers of ice that surrounded his strengthened patch.

Froslass shot out shards of ice, slicing through the icicles on the roof and sending them raining down on her foe. Rocky saw the moving icicles as more Froslass's, and began launching flames at his perceived opponent as he stumbled and fell backwards into the thin sheet of ice.

The lake's frozen blanket screeched as it splintered, unable to bear the Camerupt's weight. It fell underneath him, sending Rocky tumbling into the waters.

Erik rapidly recalled his Pokemon into its Pokeball, sending Iron out in his place. The Aggron swam unconvincingly towards the strengthened section of ice, carving his way through the thin sheets as if he were a hot knife making his way through butter.

Glacia ordered her Froslass to summon a blizzard onto the battlefield, combining it with raining icicles and sharp shards of hail, as Iron forced his way through. The Aggron endured as vicious hail smacked off his skin and icicles lodged themselves in his body once more. The frozen weather gnawed at his insides as yet more ice smashed into his face.

As he reached the strengthened section, he summoned an earthquake. The arena shook violently as the sheets of ice finally broke, splitting off into small sections. As the lake's blanket broke, so too did the metal beams, the blocks they were encased in smashed into fragments as the steel splintered and fell, crashing into decaying ice. The strengthened layer under Iron also fractured, as the Aggron tumbled into the depths Erik saw that Glacia's Froslass had been crushed by a metal beam.

"One more to go, Glacia!" Steven jabbed at the Ice Queen as Erik recalled Iron and sent Seal out in his place. "Another Glalie? I expect?"

"Would you shut up!" Glacia screamed, to yet more laughter.

"Okay, okay, I shall continue talking to Erik instead then," the Champion chuckled. "So, Rick? Ricky? Ezza? Nope, I like Ricky," Steven continued as Erik's irritation only rose. "Ricky, I've been studying your battle style. You rely on your Pokemon a lot, you trust in their instincts and their wits and only intrude when needed. I sense you have powerful bonds with each."

"What of it?" Erik snapped.

"Just letting you know that I know, Ricky," Steven finished.

"Use his tactic against him!" the Ice Queen commanded as her Glalie levitated above the water as fragments of ice floated casually around the lake. Her Pokemon responded by shooting beams of ice, freezing together the weakened sheets and reattaching the lake's blanket.

Seal allowed the Glalie to continue its trick, the Walrein lurking within the waters unmoved by Glacia's tactic. The blanket was almost completed, looking thicker and tougher than ever, by the time Seal emerged.

Erik's Pokemon leaped out of the depths, plunging his tusks into the Glalie and dragging his foe back into the waters with him. The conflict continued underwater, beams of ice lighting up the lake underneath it's cold blanket like a display as the two fought relentlessly. Suddenly, Seal crashed out of the lake and rapidly began shooting more waves of ice at the weakened sections, successfully trapping the Glalie underneath. The Ice Queen was defeated, and all that was left for Erik before he fought Steven was to defeat the Lord of Dragons.

"Knew you'd get her!" Steven roared through the speakers. "I also did say that you'd lose to Drake. He's by far the most powerful of the Elite Four, you have no chance."

"We'll see," Erik said for the countless time, as a nurse first moved through his Pokemon, then gave him a special concoction to warm up his frozen body.

"Well done," Glacia shouted from across the room, seemingly unphased by her defeat. "Knock that fool Steven off his perch for me, would you?"

"I'll take him down, don't worry," Erik replied as the nurse skulked away.

"So the Lord of Dragons awaits!" Steven declared. "He is up on the roof, the receptionists will tell you how to get there!"

"I'll see you up there," Erik responded, making his way out of the Ice Palace.

"Oh and one more thing," Steven added. "You know those potions your Pokemon have been taking, and the liquid you just drank. Well, they are laced with a special formula which was until now used exclusively by Tate and Liza, now refined to make it more potent in the ways I asked for. Don't worry though, the effects won't take hold until I activate them!"

Erik felt both sick and terrified. In the seventh Gym he was forced to battle the demons within his own mind as well as the two Gym Leaders. And now, the ghosts of his past had only grown more vengeful.


	32. Ghosts Of The Past

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Ghosts Of The Past

A crisp wind snapped at Erik's sides as he stepped off the staircase. As his feet stamped across the metallic floor, he gulped in the view. From the roof of the Pokemon League he sighted almost half of Hoenn, with Mt. Pyre and Mt. Chimney towering over the collage of forests, caves, towns and lakes.

"Remarkable," the elderly man replied as he studied Erik through fierce-looking eyes. "For one so young to make it so far." The Lord of Dragons twirled his long, grey moustache within his fingers as he spoke, and adjust has white sailor's cap with his free hand. Erik noted that the man kept himself in good shape despite his years, his toned chest and stomach splitting the black cape he wore as his jeans hung loosely off his legs, strapped down by coal coloured boots.

"You're all that stands between me and Steven," Erik snapped as he pointed an accusing finger at his opponent.

His gaze switched to Drake's arena. Far more simple than the three he had faced before, the unmagnificent arena featured a small cave, or dragon's lair, alongside a swimming pool. Other than those two features, nothing was present apart from the steel floor and open sky.

"Like my battlefield?" the man asked as he noticed Erik observing his arena. "No tricks, just straight fighting between your Pokemon and my tamed dragons!"

"I'm glad of it," Erik responded. "Some say only the old Champion of Kanto, Lance, has a more powerful bond with dragon-types than you."

"I'd like to see him come over here and beat me," Drake growled.

"Didn't mean any offence," Erik replied as he slightly warmed to the man. He was the first member of the Elite Four that valued a trainer's bond with their Pokemon, and wanted to test a trainer's strength, not how they handled their traps.

As the open sky awaited the battle, Drake launched a Pokeball into the air as an Altaria emerged from its capsule. Erik responded with Seal, who flopped onto the metal roof which would withstand both dragonfire and Pokemon that dropped from treacherous heights onto it. Erik knew Seal's ice attacks would give him a considerable advantage, being effective against dragons.

"I haven't heard Steven yet," Erik shouted whilst looking around the arena for a set of speakers.

"That pathetic excuse for a man may be a powerful trainer, but he's not allowed anywhere near my roof!" Drake responded, clenching his fists at the Champion's name. "If I defeat you then he's allowed me to challenge him, and I can finally take him down!"

"What happened? I thought the Elite Four served the Champion?"

"The Elite Four are gone. Wiped away by that fool Steven. That Giovanni, he controls the authorities now, or most of it I think. He got them authorities to get rid of us Elite Four and Steven followed in line like the loser he is!"

"May whoever wins this battle destroy Steven," Erik replied, to a nod of agreement from the Lord of Dragons.

Conflict commenced as the Altaria twisted and twirled its body through the air unimpeded by blustery beams of ice smashing passed its body. Drake's Pokemon retaliated to Seal's ice beams by launching waves of draconic energy towards the Walrein, the pulses smashing into both Seal and the steel ground, ricocheting off the roof as they were flung in all directions.

Seal withstood the barrage, launching a further ice beam towards his foe. The attack carved through the air, enduring crisp winds and smashed into the Altaria who screeched in agony as the icy assault struck home. Drake's Pokemon beat a retreat towards its lair, forcing its frail and weakened body towards the cave and disappearing within, the cavern seemingly descending through the roof and into a room below.

"Not going to use a Full Restore?" Erik asked his opponent.

"No chance!" Drake responded passionately. "Steven can keep his little presents to himself!"

"You know how he got them?"

"Yeah. Giovanni. A shipment came in as a little 'thank you' gift to Steven, full of those healing items with other potions and even a strange looking stone."

"A Megastone…" Erik gasped.

"Mega-what?" Drake responded as Seal crept towards the cave as his foe awaited within.

"Doesn't matter," Erik replied, realising now that Drake wouldn't stand a chance against Steven. The Lord of Dragons was a powerful trainer, but he wasn't prepared to face a Mega.

As Seal entered the lair, shadows consumed his lumbering frame. Moments passed without a sound as both Erik and Drake fixed their stares into the cave's open mouth, silence engulfing the battlefield. Erik searched his soul for the answer to his Pokemon's status. He hadn't felt anything other than apprehension for his friend and the violent anger laced with sorrow that had settled a permanent home within.

Drake keeled over, clutching his heart as he recoiled in agony. "Altaria!" he roared, as Erik saw in the man's eyes that same soul severing blow dealt to his opponent that had been forced on him so many times. It appeared that Drake's bonds with dragon Pokemon were almost as strong as his with his own.

Seal emerged from the cavern as Drake released a Flygon into the arena. Trapinch's evolved form fluttered through the sky, almost dancing as the green dragon cut shapes into the air. Erik's Walrein watched his opponent carefully, before preparing to attack with ice.

The Flygon emitted supersonic soundwaves directed towards Seal, the high pitched noise forcefully surrounding the Walrein who unwillingly guzzled in the effects, leaving him dazzled and confused. Seal span on the spot, devoured by his bewildered state. The Walrein saw a sky crowded with various forms of dragon, an army of Altaria glided alongside a flock of Flygon as they all circled a legion of Latios.

Seal was aghast, and flopped towards the safety of the cave as Flygon launched dragonfire towards the Walrein, scorching the fleeing Pokemon's back as Drake's dragon whirled around for another assault. The Flygon honed his claws before savagely swiping at the Walrein, cutting marks into Seal's back as Erik's Pokemon found sanctuary within the lair moments later.

Frail and confused, Seal looked back into the sky which continued to house scores of dragons within. Erik's vision painted a different picture, as he sighted the Flygon swoop around in preparation for another raid, her claws glinting in the setting sunlight.

Seal faltered, collapsing to the floor as his wounds began to overcome him, before slowly rising to his feet as the Flygon opened its talons for the killing blow. Erik's Walrein protected itself the only way it could, by launching as many ice beams as he could towards anything and everything that moved.

An ice beam sizzled past the Flygon as another crashed into the ground not far from Erik. Drake's Pokemon screeched a cry of victory as it moved to within a few feet of the cave, until a wild attack struck it in the chest, ice crawling up the Flygon's skin as the beast thundered in the lair's solid stone exterior. Drake recoiled once more as both his heart and soul throbbed through the pain, Erik taking the opportunity to withdraw Seal and send out Soar in his place.

"Woah," Drake cried as a smile painted his face, opposing his bloodshot eyes. "You caught a legendary dragon? Good on you, kid."

"Say hello to my Latios, Soar."

"This will be an honour," Drake replied, thrusting another Flygon's Pokeball into the sky and looking on in awe of the two dragon's fight without mercy.

The fading sun's final rays cast across the draconic duo as Soar twirled through the sky to avoid dragonfire, before launching a dragon pulse as the Flygon sunk its talons into the Latios. Drake's Pokemon accompanied his attack with more dragonfire, the flames smacking into Soar.

Erik's Latios rose higher through the air, elevating itself almost to the clouds before beginning his descent. Rapidly rotating as he twirled through the skies at devastating speed, draconic pulses deflecting off Soar's twisting frame during his descent and rocketed in all directions. Erik's Pokemon smashed into the Flygon, launching both he and Drake's dragon into the steel roof. A mighty crash resounded throughout the skies as the Flygon took the brunt of the blow.

Drake clutched his heart but remained upright as his face contorted into a smile despite the agonising pain which tormented his soul. The Lord of Dragons appeared proud to see a Latios in action, as if he had dreamed of such a moment. He bowed his head almost in thanks to Erik, as he recalled Soar into his Pokeball and released his next Pokemon.

Drake's Kingdra hopped into the swimming pool, beckoning Dancer to approach as the water and dragon dual-type dove into the small body of water. Erik's Pikachu scampered towards the swimming pool as electricity sparked from her crimson cheeks. She launched electrical waves of energy towards the Kingdra, the currents conducting through the swimming pool and lighting up the water.

Kingdra remained motionless as her scales soaked up the damage, minimising the effects of Dancer's attack. The Lord of Dragons' Pokemon launched bursts of water towards its foe, the aqua jets smashing into the Pikachu who fell backwards, crashing into the ground as beads of liquid dripped off of her drenched body.

Dancer sprinted towards the cave as Kingdra blasted barrages of water blasts towards her.

The Pikachu hid behind the lair's rock walls and conceived another plan within her mind, sparking up her cheeks as she tip-toed back onto the battlefield. As she rounded the cave wall, the Kingdra locked eyes with her, Drake's Pokemon's pupils glowed a faint red and seemed to rotate in a mesmeric motion. As Dancer launched a paralysing wave of electricity at her foe, she felt drowsy, and dragged her failing body back towards the cave entrance where she fell asleep within. The Kingdra's hypnotic attack had sent her to rest, as Drake's Pokemon began feeling the effects of its paralysis.

Erik roared to his Pikachu to wake up, as the Kingdra lingered towards her sleeping foe. Summoning the waters from within the pool, Drake's Pokemon rode upon the created wave, which arched around towards the lair, preparing to trap the Pikachu within. Erik grabbed Dancer's Pokeball, fumbling around his belt for the correct one before grabbing it and watching in horror as the Kingdra's wave entered the cave.

Kingdra screeched in joy, just as the Pikachu vanished from sight.

The wave crashed downwards and filled the cave, turning it into a watery tomb for any non-aquatic Pokemon before an earth-shaking roar resounded from behind the Kingdra., Iron filled the cave's mouth.

Erik had withdrawn Dancer at the final moment, releasing his Aggron in her place. Iron now loitered just outside the cave, as he stomped powerfully on the ground. The Aggron's earthquake attack seemed to shake not only the entire building, but from Erik's vision the whole of Hoenn, as the roof trembled violently.

Kingdra retaliated by summoning the water in the cavern, moulding it into a wave and launching it at her foe, before the lair collapsed upon her as Drake once more wailed in agony.

The wave rocketed out of the cave just as it collapsed, collecting Iron within its embrace and pushed Erik's Pokemon backwards. Erik gasped in horror as the Aggron remained powerless against the fierce tide of water. He scrambled around his belt for Iron's Pokeball, before clasping it and pointing it in the direction of his Aggron. Who had already fallen.

Iron had been forced off the building's edge by the wave, as the bond between Erik and his Aggron was agonisingly severed. He joined Drake in a mutual torment, both having lost Pokemon they had formed connections with. He glanced to the Lord of Dragons, sighting he only had one remaining Pokemon.

Erik shifted the pain from his thoughts and forced himself to focus on the battle, just one more Pokemon to defeat then he could finally face Steven to become Champion. He grabbed Rocky's Pokeball from his belt, the one Pokemon on his team still at full health, and launched his Camerupt's Pokeball into the sky. Drake replied with a Salamence, the towering dragon ascending into the air.

The Lord of Dragon's Pokemon commenced an aerial assault, bombarding Rocky with fireballs whilst swooping to the ground and swiping at Erik's Camerupt with its claws. As Rocky responded with bursts of fire, the Salamence span through the skies, deftly dodging the attacks as he moved to strike once more.

Rocky planted his feet on the ground and roared as his weary body tired from the constant blows. As more fire smothered him the Salamence moved in for a final assault, opening his talons as he scolded the Camerupt with dragonfire. Rocky faltered, falling to the floor and gasping for air, Erik recalled him as the Salamence swept passed where the Camerupt's body once lay.

Drake's Pokemon roared victoriously into the sky, until an energy blast sent him sprawling backwards. He recovered to launched a pulse of draconic energy at his aggressor, the Latios twirling through the sky to avoid the attack.

As the last of the sun's light vanished and darkness descended, starlight lit up the arena as a full moon glared onto the opposing dragons. Psychic attacks canceled out Soar's dented vitality as vigorous swipes from the Salamence's claws carved into the Latios, whose energy blasts countered the constant assaults.

The duo faded as a dragon pulse intercepted an energy blast, Erik's Latios and Drake's Salamence grappling onto one another as they each planted sharp claws into their foe. A ferocious bite from the Salamence plunged into the Latios' neck as Soar attempted to fry his foe's mind with psychic mind waves. The dragons plummeted towards the arena, falling through the air as more attacks connected before both smashed into the steel floor.

Soar and Salamence roared in pain as they clambered to their feet. Both their wings were torn with their failing frames too frail to fly, so they resumed their conflict on the ground. Arching their bodies into the air, the two slammed their jaws into each other, whilst savagely slashing at their foe. Drake's Pokemon tumbled backwards, before climbing to his feet and preparing a draconic pulse. Soar crept backwards and countered with an energy blast.

Two beams of power smashed into one another, as Soar's pearl white energy conflicted with Salamence's violet pulses. The Lord of Dragons' Pokemon suddenly slumped to the ground, the Latios having had fried his mind with a psychic blast.

"What a fight!" Drake declared as he clutched his chest.

"Well fought," Erik replied, smiling at his opponent as he released the surviving members of his team from their Pokeballs. Steven had steered clear of the fighting, so would have all six members of his team remaining. Whereas Erik was reduced to four: Seal, Dancer, Rocky and Soar.

As the nurse ascended the staircase, Erik stormed over to her, the violet-haired lady clad in white gasped in shock as she retreated backwards.

"Why have you poisoned my Pokemon?!" he roared, as the nurse fell over. "And me?!"

"What? Please, I don't know-"

"Steven said-"

"Hey, Erik!" Drake roared as he moved to step between the duo. "What is this? It's bad form to assault a lady!"

"Steven tells me that the nurse's healing items have been infecting my Pokemon with some sort of formula."

"I didn't know!" the nurse replied, shaking like a leaf caught in the wind. "I promise! Steven supplied me with some healing items, I thought they were just normal potions and concoctions! I swear!"

"Well," Erik sighed. "Seeing as my Pokemon are already infected. You may as well heal them up. Where's Steven's arena?"

* * *

Erik stormed through the steel corridor, a humongous gate opening as he proceeded towards Steven's lair.

"Here he comes!" Steven's voice echoed through speakers fixed around the corridor. "The man to fight the Champion!"

Erik ignored the Champion's taunts, as the towering gate loomed ahead of him.

"As soon as that gate opens, I'll make sure the toxins take effect. Don't worry, I ordered Tate and Liza to fiddle with the formula, making it more potent in certain areas," Steven laughed slightly as he spoke. "They told me that you struggled most with your inner demons, so don't you fret. They'll all be making an appearance!"

He knew already that he must conquer both Steven and his mind during this fight. He feared the latter infinitely more than the former, as he stopped before the gate.

The doors creaked open, as a gas emerged from within and engulfed him, creeping into his Pokeballs and forcing Erik to unwillingly inhale the substance. It had begun, as he stumbled through the gateway and into Steven's arena.

"And here he is!" Steven yelled as he sighted his opponent appearing within his stadium. "Welcome, Ricky, to my arena," the Champion called out to Erik as he sat atop a steel throne to the rear of the room. The battlefield seemed more like a palace throne room, with pillars entrenched into the ground, shooting up in the roof and holding the room together as small holes littered the smooth stone floor. The room was a dim yellow, almost cream colour as spotlights illuminated the arena from above.

"Giovanni has gathered information about you, added to me studying your battle style and techniques. I know everything about you. All your weaknesses and the demons who haunt you," the Champion said coldly, his steel eyes glinting eagerly.

"Enough talk!" Erik snapped as he began to feel lightheaded.

"Fair enough," Steven responded, launching a Pokeball into the air as a Skarmory emerged into the centre of the room. Erik responded with Rocky.

"How many Pokemon have you lost along the way?" Steven started. "How many sacrifices have you made to get here. Throwing away your friends lives, just so you could prove a point to your father."

Erik growled, although his heart agreed with Steven. Vivid figures appeared from behind the pillars that littered the room, made real by the toxins inside his system. String and Speedy loitered to his left, playing cheerily together as they filled the room with squeaks resembling laughter, until the Silcoon and Cascoon turned and saw Erik. The pair of bug types hastily scampered away in horror.

A child appeared, frollicking across the arena as he screamed in glee, "I want to become the best Pokemon trainer the world has ever seen!" he cried, Erik rapidly realising the figure was himself. Pokeballs appeared around the child's belt, as a raging fire roared into life behind him, he captured both String and Speedy and launched their capsules into the flames.

Gully appeared from behind another pillar, squawking as the Wingull pecked at the young Erik's hair playfully. A Whismur sprinted to join them, then a Zigzagoon. The child captured the trio, shouting the names of the Pokemon as he threw their Pokeballs into the fire. "Gully!" he yelled as flames licked up and melted the capsule. "Bunny! Ziggy!"

Erik could only look on in horror as more Pokemon happily emerged to join the child, each flashing the real Erik a fearful glare as they did so. A Tentacruel crawled up to the child, with two Tentacool within his embrace as Horde allowed both Gu and Lady to be captured, before he himself gave in willingly to the child.

"Stop," Erik whispered, as the child threw his friends into the flames. "Please."

Roller and Ninja creeped out from behind the throne, piercing the older Erik with terrified but accusing eyes. More joined them, and more, and more. Each of the Pokemon he had lost walked up to the child, before being captured and tossed into the fire.

"Are you proud of me Daddy?" the child asked as he threw Ghost's Pokeball.

Erik noted the absentees. Leaf, Blaze, Ice, Splash, Iron and Bat were all missing from the gathering. Steven's mental games were only just beginning.

As flames greedily gobbled up Snappy's Pokeball, Erik's attention was snapped to the battle. A toxic liquid soaked into Rocky's skin, poisoning the Camerupt who howled as the toxins tormented him. His Pokemon were faltering as their trainer struggled to conquer the ghosts of his journey.

Steven's Skarmory twirled through the air as a trail of flame chased her. Despite his failing body, Rocky endured, blasting fire at his foe who responded with savage swipes of its steel talons which ripped into the Camerupt's skin.

As the Skarmory retreated back into aerial safety, Rocky launched a flamethrower. The fires shot through the air in a direct line, honing in on the steel-type before colliding with its target. Flames smothered the Skarmory, melting its steel skin to agonising screeches as Steven's Pokemon returned to her trainer.

The Champion handed his Pokemon a Full Restore, the Skarmory eagerly gulping down the liquid. Steven's Pokemon's wounds closed as its body healed, the advanced potion coursing through its bloodstream and sniffing out any ailments or damage. The Skarmory shot back into the air, re-energised and healthy as poison sapped at Rocky's vitality.

"How do you like my trick, Ricky?" Steven called from across the room.

Erik's refused to acknowledge the Champion, his focus fixed on his Camerupt who toiled and thrashed. Rocky had not only the toxins eating at him from within, but Steven's formula was causing the Camerupt to envision his fears and weaknesses. And Erik knew exactly what Rocky was seeing. Blaze, and the daunting prospect of being a mere replacement for the Blaziken.

"Blaze is gone!" Erik roared as his heart throbbed in pain at the words. "Because of my mistakes, not yours Rocky. We've got passed this! I promise you, you're not Blaze's replacement, you're my Camerupt!"

Rocky sluggishly turned his head towards his trainer. The Camerupt flashed a slight smile at Erik as he looked him in the eye, before Rocky incinerated his aerial opponent with a ferocious burst of flames.

Steven's Skarmory tumbled from the sky, smoke trailing behind the steel-type as it crashed into the solid stone ground, defeated. Before Rocky had a chance to celebrate, steel spikes ascended from the floor, plunging into his exposed feet and pinning him to the floor.

"What is this?!" Erik snapped at the Champion. "You can't use your arena to deal damage to my Pokemon!"

"I can do as I wish," Steven responded. "What will you do? Complain to Giovanni? The man who has always been one step ahead of you?"

Erik stumbled as dizziness inflicted his body and his demons tormented his mind. Giovanni strolled out from behind a pillar, Erik unsure whether he was the real thing or just another vivid vision. The Team Rocket boss was clad within a black suit, as the child Erik appeared once more and grabbed the man's hand.

"You're the forry minner?" the child asked Giovanni.

"The foreign minister," the Team Rocket boss corrected him.

"Are you happy?" the boy questioned, a beaming smile permanently painted across his face.

"Very. Now that I am next to my future successor."

The young figure of Erik disappeared, leaving Giovanni to ascend into the air, like a spectral figure. The Team Rocket boss closed his eyes and floated above the throne, resting above Steven and looking over both Erik and the battlefield.

"Erik," Giovanni spoke, his eyes remaining firmly shut. "You may have defeated me on Route 104 with the help of your friends. But you are alone now, as you always have been. Like that fool Maxie before you, you have constantly attempted to resist me. You forget that I always win."

As Giovanni paused, Maxie appeared before Erik alongside Courtney, pleading for her to stay in his life as the pink-haired woman giggled manically at the begging man.

"See 'Vanni, he's nothing compared to you," she yelled towards the Rocket boss, before skipping off behind a pillar leaving Maxie in a slump on the floor.

"You see Erik," the Magma boss hissed towards him. "We could've taken down Giovanni side by side. Instead, you fought me at every turn and left me to die!"

"It wasn't like that," Erik whispered. Before he could say anymore, Giovanni breathed fire, smothering Maxie in flames.

"Just like Norman. Anyone who I wish to join me will eventually. Even you, Erik," Giovanni spoke once more.

Erik tried forcing the visions away by focusing his thoughts elsewhere, failing. Instead, he sent Seal to fight, Steven responding with an Aggron as memories of Iron plunged into Erik's head. Seeing his trainer whimper and falter, Seal struggled to maintain his focus as the Aggron approached the Walrein's lumbering frame.

Steven's Pokemon grabbed hold of Seal, hoisting the Walrein upwards as if it weighed as much as the air itself. Seal howled in agony as the Aggron began crushing it within its metallic claws, powerfully squeezing at the Walrein's frame.

As Seal squealed and writhed within the Aggron's vice-like grasp, Steven's Pokemon slammed his foe into a pillar. Fragments of rock fell and dust rose into the air as visible dents carved themselves into the stone at the impact. Aggron hurled the Walrein into the ground, as steel spikes flashed upwards, piercing Seal and cutting into his flesh.

"Seal!" Erik roared as visions of Norman bowing before Giovanni threatened to distract him from the fight. "Hold on, I can't lose you too! We've come this far together, don't give up now!"

It was his Walrein's turn to contort its tusked face into a smile, his eyes lighting up as his trainer still believed in him. The Aggron grappled Seal again, crushing Erik's Pokemon within his grasp before slamming him into the pillar once more. More stones tumbled to the floor, Erik's Walrein flopping to the ground as Steven's Aggron roared victoriously.

Seal launched a beam of ice at the weakened pillar, cutting into the frayed structure and fracturing the support. The pillar fell, crashing into the Aggron as it ripped into a portion of the roof, pulling the stone with it and combining to complete Steven's Pokemon's tomb.

Erik recalled Seal, sending Soar out in place of the diminished Walrein as Steven responded with a Cradily.

"Ahh the Pokemon that we caught together," Steven jibed. "How romantic, Ricky. Would you say that your Latios is your closest friend now you've lost all the others along the way? Actually, what about the Pokemon you've lost during the tournament?"

Erik caught a glint of a Mightyena's eye as Ice trembled behind a pillar. Behind him hid Splash, the Gyarados cowering in fear from his former master. Bat screeched above, circling the arena before the Crobat collided with Iron, the Aggron vanishing at the contact as Bat cried out before disappearing too.

"It's all your fault," a child spoke, pointing an accusing finger directly towards Erik as he clutched Leaf in his arms, the small Oddish unable to make eye contact with her former trainer. "If it weren't for you, all these Pokemon would still be happily alive in the wild," the young Erik spoke whilst stroking the grass-type.

"Leaf thanked me," Erik whimpered towards the boy. "She said thank you."

"And the rest? All my other friends?" the child snapped angrily. "You got them all killed!"

The boy vanished before Erik's eyes, just in time for the him to sight a dragon pulse smash into the Cradily's tough, resilient body, hardly scratching the surface of Soar's foe. Steven's Pokemon emitted a ray of dazzling light, stunning the Latios and confusing Erik's Pokemon. Through his bewildered state, Soar smashed into a pillar as the structure crumbled to the ground, ripping out sections of the roof as stone crashed to the floor, narrowly avoiding the Latios.

Steven's concoction combined with the confusion inside Soar's system caused the Latios to become fearful of everything around him. Erik tried placing himself within Soar's mind, attempting to decipher his Pokemon's fears and demons. He knew his Latios was under the effects of Steven's toxins.

"Soar!" Erik roared, his mind locking onto his Pokemon's haunting. "I know you're afraid. I know what you're seeing," he shouted to no response from his Latios. "Mega-Evolution!" the words rang like a siren to Soar, who swerved in the air as he eyed his trainer, his face the embodiment of fear. "It's okay, my friend, it's okay! I promise I will never mega-evolve you, or any of my Pokemon again. I can't do that to you anymore, no matter what!" the words flowed out of Erik's mouth without him thinking, a fresh wave of relief coursing through his veins as he spoke. It was as if he had conquered a demon within himself by promising to not use a Megastone again.

"I understand," Erik thought to himself. "I feel guilty about mega-evolving my Pokemon, forcing them to go through the torture so I can win battles." Soar seemingly heard Erik's words, and smiled thankfully towards his trainer. "If I can defeat my Pokemon's ghosts, then maybe I can defeat my-" he paused, as May, Blaze and Norman stared at him from beside Steven's throne, before swiftly disintegrating.

Sludge smashed into Soar whilst the Latios was distracted by his trainer, poisoning seeping through the Latios's skin and infecting his bloodstream. Soar shook the confusion from his system, launching energy blasts at the Cradily who endured the attacks before creeping back to her trainer for a Full Restore.

Erik fumbled around his bag for a solution, suddenly finding a lone antidote he had kept all the way from Rustboro City. He applied the healing item to his Latios, curing Soar of his ailments with his remaining antidote. On the other side of the arena, Cradily roared in delight as her vitality was fully healed.

Soar tentatively glided on the battlefield, twirling to avoid sludge bombs. Erik's Latios plunged downwards, but instead of physically attack the Cradily, Soar fried its brain with psychic waves. Steven's Pokemon attempted to withstand the mental assault, but whilst its body was tough, its mind was weak. Soar had beaten Steven at his own game, as his Pokemon fell to the floor defeated.

Erik recalled Soar, sending out Dancer in his place for his Pikachu grit her teeth in preparation for a battle against an Armaldo.

"Why didn't you save me?" a sweet voice called from behind a pillar. May stepped out from behind the stone structure, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I tried," Erik whispered. His heart felt as if daggers were being forcefully plunged into it.

"You failed. All I wanted was for you to take me with you, to be part of your world."

"I'm so sorry." Erik bit his lip as he tried to hold back his tears.

Sensing her trainer's pain, Dancer turned to face Erik. The Pikachu called out to her trainer, smiling through her eyes. Erik tried to read her expression, searching his soul for what his Pokemon was saying to him.

Dancer's eyes reminded him of Leaf's final moments, thanking Erik for everything he had done for her. "Maybe my Pokemon wanted to fight for me, they sacrificed themselves for me, not because of me," the words flowed through Erik's mind, as Dancer nodded. He understood what she was trying to tell him.

Armaldo slammed his claws into the Pikachu's back. Steven howled with glee as Dancer slumped to the floor, defeated. Erik's friend locked eyes with her trainer, as her life steadily drained away. She smiled at Erik, she wanted him to know that she was grateful for him, for everything that he had done.

"Dancer," Erik roared, as the soul severing blow was slashed across his strong bond with the Pikachu. He collapsed to the floor as tears streamed down his face.

"It's your fault!" the child spoke, having reappeared as Dancer was recalled into her Pokeball, to her final resting place. "You've gotten Dancer killed!"

Another ghost formed next to the child. Dancer's.

Erik expected the worst, to be scolded by another demon. But instead, Dancer just smiled. She had forgiven him long before she ever blamed him.

"Wait," Erik gasped. "These ghosts aren't my friends and Pokemon coming back to haunt me. It's me. It's because I blame myself and my buried guilt is surfacing in the form of these demons. Thank you, Dancer. You sacrificed yourself to show me the truth. I'll never forget you."

The child disappeared within Erik's sight as the revelation struck him. Dancer too, leaving only Giovanni lurking above Steven's throne, and May flanked by Blaze and Norman beside the Champion. Only the most vengeful ghosts remained.

"Steven," Erik growled, as anger fuelled his system.

"Yes, Ricky?" the Champion said eagerly. "Oh, before you speak. I just want to say I'm really interested in your next Pokemon. Is it the poisoned Camerupt, the almost defeated Walrein, or the shattered spirit of the Latios?"

"Enjoy your last few minutes of being Champion of Hoenn."

He launched Soar's Pokeball into the sky. The Latios emerged, his eyes laced with an eagerness for retribution against the Armaldo. Erik's Pokemon launched beams of energy at the Armaldo who lifted its arms above its head and curled into a ball. Latios's attack deflected off his foe's shell, rebounding into pillars and causing plumes of dust to ascend into the air as crushed stone flung towards the floor.

Soar lowered himself, launching psychic waves towards his foe. The Armaldo leapt onto the Latios as Soar descended to within reach, Steven's Pokemon burying knife-like claws the legendary dragon.

Erik beckoned his Latios forward, and Soar responded by smashing into pillars with his foe attached to his back. Steven's Armaldo clung on, lodging knives deeper into Soar's flesh despite the Latios' desperate attempts to throw his opponent off.

Soar tumbled, crashing into the ground with a thud before mustering the remainders of his energy to scorch the Armaldo's mind with psychic blasts. Steven's Pokemon crumpled to the ground defeated, leaving the Champion with two remaining Pokemon and Erik with three weakened warriors.

"Three Pokemon left who are all unfit to fight," Steven taunted, mocking Erik with a smile as he spoke. "Do you wish to surrender?"

"Never," Erik growled, throwing Seal's Pokeball onto the battlefield to challenge Steven's Claydol.

"Ricky?" Steven grinned. "Where's Blaze?"

Tears clouded Erik's eyes as his Blaziken's ghost approached. His oldest friend glared accusingly towards his old trainer, blaming Erik not only for his death, but for mega-evolving him time and time again.

"I'm sorry, old friend," Erik whimpered. Blaze de-evolved in front of his eyes, becoming a Torchic once more. Erik recalled the duo travelling to Hoenn together in the back of a truck, two young and inexperienced children ready to face the world. Until Erik had killed his best friend, Blaze had always been by his side, defeating Gym Leaders, rivals, gangs, always together. The Torchic morphed into a Combusken, they had always mirrored each other. Blaze grew with Erik and Erik with Blaze. From two children in their own minds to young adults, ready to take on all their opponents.

A roar reverberated around the room as Seal was struck by a barrage of rocks. As the battle raged on, Blaze morphed back into the form of Blaziken before Erik's eyes. The two had been tempered by pain, growing into men together as they fought off Hoenn's problems, together with their friends, they were the only people or Pokemon in the land who dared to stand up to Team Magma, Team Rocket and the Authorities.

But Erik had killed Blaze. He had Mega-Evolved his Blaziken to fight Groudon, and then was too slow to save him from Mega-Soar.

"His sacrifice saved Hoenn," Norman's ghost spoke as he approached Erik with May. "You always blame yourself, my son, why?"

"Because it's my fault, if I didn't Mega-Evolve-"

"Then you and all your Pokemon would've perished to Groudon, along with the whole region," Norman interrupted.

"I wasn't quick enough to save Blaze!" Erik roared, to Steven's howls of laughter.

"You've replayed the incident a thousand times within your mind, with the benefit of both hindsight and a mind fully focused on that one event."

"Why did you leave me, Dad?" Erik spoke as tears soaked his face. "When I was a boy?"

"It's not your fault."

"It is, you did it to protect me!"

"It's not your fault," May added her voice to the mix. "I chose to come with you, all your Pokemon choose to fight with you. We all know the risks, we did it for you."

"Because we love you," Norman added. "Because we will always love you."

Erik looked to Blaze, his Blaziken nodding in approval and smiling back at his trainer.

"I miss you all so much," he said to everyone.

"We will always be with you, our bodies may be gone, but our spirits live on through you," May replied, smiling sweetly as she always did.

"You must become Champion," Norman finished, as he, Blaze and May vanished before Erik's eyes.

Seal's summoned wave washed the Claydol into a pillar, which held strong despite the impact. Steven's Pokemon attacked with psychic mind waves, attempting not only to fracture his opponent's mind but induce the effects of the toxins buried within Seal.

"Come on Seal," Erik roared. For the first time in his life, his soul felt clear. There was no pent-up anger in his tones, no guilt or sadness. Just pure passion and belief. "Let's get this guy!"

Erik's Walrein roared triumphantly at his trainer's calls, ramming his skull into the Claydol before launching beams of ice at his opponent. Steven's Pokemon collapsed, unable to withstand the barrage of assaults from Seal.

"Yes!" Erik shouted. "One more Pokemon to go!"

"And then what?" Giovanni asked. The final spectral figure descended from above the throne, to stare Erik directly in the face. "I rule Kanto."

"I will turn Hoenn against you."

"You have no-one left, all your friends are gone."

"Not all of them," Erik replied, as figures resembling Archie, Wally and Cecilia trotted up to his right.

Giovanni stumbled and stuttered, before his ghost too, disappeared before the sight of Erik's army.

"Go get 'em, kid," Archie's ghost growled from beside him.

Steven released a Metagross from its Pokeball, Erik throwing out Soar in response. He knew that his weakened dragon was in for an almost impossible fight against Steven's strongest Pokemon, after seeing the steel-type in action when he caught Soar. But if anybody could defeat the Metagross, it was his Latios.

A glint of light flashed from a stone within Steven's hand. A Megastone.

"No," Erik whispered as a dark shroud engulfed the Metagross.

"Here we go!" Steven bellowed. "Your end awaits!"

"Soar," Erik shouted to his friend. "I promised I wouldn't Mega-Evolve you, but I've never seen a Mega taken down by something that wasn't another Mega." Erik hesitated for a moment, before continuing. "But a promise is a promise. Make me Champion, my friend."

Out of the darkness emerged a titanic beast, twice the size of a regular Metagross with ruby red eyes and skin of blue steel laced with black.

Soar assaulted the Mega with a sequence of energy beams which smashed into his foe. Erik's Latios swerved out the way of a ray of darkness, before resuming his assault. Beam after beam crashed into the Mega-Metagross, who showed no signs of faltering under the relentless waves of attacks.

Suddenly, Soar tumbled from the air, crashing into the stone surface as he turned his head towards Erik. The Mega-Metagross has fried his mind with psychic attacks, overpowering the Latios' mental resilience and defeating Soar.

Erik's Pokemon faced his trainer and smiled, as if to say, "it's been an honour."

"Soar!" Erik cried. "No, Soar!" he screamed once more as the Latios closed his eyes for one final time, his essence absorbed back into his Pokeball.

Erik was left with a weakened Walrein and a Camerupt inflicted with poison. He chose Seal to face the Mega-Metagross, his hopes of victory rapidly fading.

"You're the strongest trainer I've ever met," Wally's ghost spoke from beside Erik. "You'll win this."

"Yeah don't give up!" Cecilia added.

Erik smiled to his friend's apparitions, before roaring encouragement to his Walrein.

Seal blasted beams of ice at his foe, whilst withstanding powerful psychic ripostes. Erik's Walrein summoned a wave to ride upon, the waters crashing into Steven's Pokemon and tearing down a pillar. Sections of the roof collapsed onto both Seal and Mega-Metagross, before Steven's Mega disintegrated the Walrein with an assault of dark energy.

"Seal!" Erik boomed, as the bond between himself and his Walrein was agonisingly severed.

"Don't give in," May's voice appeared as she strolled up beside him.

"He never does," Norman added, materialise beside her. "I'm so proud of you, my son."

Scampering movement behind Erik caught his attention. He turned to face the ghosts of each and every Pokemon he had lost as he launched Rocky's Pokeball onto the battlefield, pinning his hopes on his final Pokemon.

Seal's apparition roared to the Camerupt in encouragement as Soar screeched overhead. Ice walked up to Erik and rubbed his head on his trainer's arm, before making way for Leaf and Dancer to hug a leg each. They were all here, from Roller to Gully to String and Speedy. Iron, Bat and Splash. All of them, here with Erik until the end. Blaze stepped up to his trainer and grabbed a hand, May grabbing the other.

"We'll never leave you," May said softly, Blaze chirping in response.

"Steven!" Erik called out to his opponent.

"Yes, Ricky?"

"The poison you infected me with," he began.

"What of it? Taking its toll?"

"No, it has backfired. You tried to make me see the ghosts of my past, thinking they would defeat me. Instead, they all stand with me now. Until the end."

"Doesn't matter," Steven replied, folding his arms as he lounged across his throne. "You have a poisoned Camerupt against a Mega, you've lost."

"We'll see," Erik replied confidently. "Rocky, do this for everyone we've lost!"

The Camerupt roared and mustered all his power, summoning an eruption from the duo of volcanos on his back. Unleashing the lava, he fired molten magma at his foe, scolding the Mega-Metagross who had been severely weakened by both Seal and Soar.

Rocky collapsed through exhaustion, the poison had destroyed him from within.

"It can't be!" Steven roared as his Mega-Metagross de-evolved before his eyes. Rocky eyed his opponent, the two sprawled across the floor devoid of energy. "What's this? A draw?!" Steven added.

"No," Erik hissed. His Camerupt bellowed, launching fire from the pits of his soul and smothering the Metagross with flames.

"No!" Steven yelled, as his Pokemon lay defeated before him. "No! No! No!"

Erik sprinted over to his fallen Camerupt moments later, but he was too late, Rocky had already passed. The toxins having eaten away at him from within.

"Thank you, Rocky," Erik whispered into his fallen Camerupt's ear before his Pokemon returned to his Pokeball. "I should've never doubted you."

Erik looked behind him to see the ghostly figures disappear one by one. Cecilia, Archie and Wally disappeared smiling, as Dancer and Leaf finally let go of Erik's legs. Blaze chirped and smile before vanishing into the air.

"Yay!" May screamed delightedly before she too, disappeared.

"You've done it, my son," Norman finished. "Champion of Hoenn."


	33. Epilogue

Epilogue

Cecilia's footsteps echoed as her heeled feet clattered off the wooden staircase. She was running late, the meeting upstairs would have already commenced as her PokeNav showed the time to be thirteen minutes passed one, the meet having started on the hour.

She quickly glanced out the window as she reached the last step and proceeded into the narrow corridor. The bustling city of Rustboro buzzed nosily outside as plumes of smoke ascended into the air from the Devon Corporation building in the west to the factories in the east, the industrial city never slept.

Cecilia half-jogged down the corridor, paintings of various famous figures and powerful Pokemon lining the wooden walls. She checked each door, failing in her attempts to remember which room the guests were gathered.

They had all agreed to meet in Rustboro, the usual meeting ground of Lilycove now inconspicuous due to Magma and Rockets' influences within the port city, as Hoenn's Capital shifted to the industrial city. Near the end of the corridor, an oaken door lay slightly as voices crawled out of it, she had finally found the correct room.

"Sorry I'm late!" Cecilia called as she barged through the doorway, the seven faces within all turning from their debate to look at her.

"Cecilia!" Archie growled. "It is good to see you!" the Team Aqua leader followed, his bulky frame shifting uncomfortably within the black suit he wore as his blue and white tie hung loosely from his neck.

"Who's this?" Mr. Stone demanded of the new arrival. He sat forward from his leather chair at the far end of a long table alongside his son, Steven. A door sat closed behind them.

"Now, Cedric," Professor Birch began his reply. "No need for hostility."

"Yeah," Flannery roared in agreement, to a nod of approval from Roxanne beside her, the two on the left hand side of the table with Archie. Professors Birch and Cozmo rested opposite them, studying a drawn out map of Hoenn covering the table's surface, with even more pictures lining the well-lit room.

"I invited her," Archie responded. "She's an intelligent young woman." The man winked at her as he finished speaking, Cecilia brushing off the charm offensive. She knew that Archie liked her, but held no interest in the man. She had far more important issues to worry about.

"Are we just inviting random strangers in off the street for our meetings?!" Steven intruded.

"She had more right to be here than you do!" Roxanne cut the former Champion off. "You were dethroned by Erik a week ago!"

"Where is the young man anyway?" Cedric Stone spoke next.

"Declined our offer of attending," Professor Birch replied. "He has spent the week back in Littleroot Town with his mother, laying his Pokemon to rest, saying his goodbyes, and packing."

"Packing?" It was Steven who spoke, a triumphant glint in his eye at hearing the words.

"Yes," Cecilia cut in, speaking for the first time and ended that particular branch of the conversation.

"Very well, have a seat, young lady," Cozmo offered, pulling out the empty chair from beside him.

"Thank you, the name is Cecilia, by the way," she accepted.

"We were just discussing reforming the region," Cedric Stone began. "Wallace and Wattson have been suspended for their involvement with Team Rocket, so new Gym Leaders will need to be appointed."

"Cedric," Archie interrupted. "What is your game?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You invited us all here today not to discuss Gym Leaders, but something else, what do you want?"

"Well," the man began, linking his hands together and resting his elbows on the table. "I propose a reform of the governing body. The 'authorities' of Hoenn have clearly failed, and now the region is slowly uprising against our control after Erik's defeat of my son. Steven was previously keeping the peace, and now to quell these rebellions, we need strong leadership."

"So what do you propose?" Professor Birch enquired, the man still shaken over the loss of his daughter as he fingered a medallion on his neck, a small picture of May embedded within a golden coin attached to a piece of string.

"As one third of the previous leadership regime, and both immense resources and connections. I myself am well placed to restore the peace," Cedric announced, to gasps and murmured responses from the rest of the group.

"I have another idea," Archie retorted, as the door behind the Stones' swung open. "Get them out of here," he ordered the two figures who emerged from the doorway.

"Right you are boss," Mylos responded as he grabbed Steven and dragged him from the room, the former Champion leaving without a word, his spirit crushed by Erik. Grant did the same to Cedric.

"You can't do this! I have many powerful allies!" Cedric roared as he was shoved from the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Right," Archie followed. "Cecilia I called you here to be a witness."

"To what?" she responded, as the other four remaining members of the group joined Archie in casting their gaze to her.

"The forming of our new government," Professor Birch responded.

"The five of us shall lead Hoenn from now on, eradicating any remaining Rocket influence and restoring the region," Roxanne added.

"Winona was going to join us, but said no," Flannery said despondently. "Think she's too broken up over what's happened."

"I shall assume the role of head of research and innovation," Professor Cozmo spoke. "Archie is the new head of state security, which includes both the police and any armies we may need to muster. Professor Birch is our new head of finance and resources, Roxanne head of infrastructure, and Flannery chief of the trainer's union."

"Any issues that need to be decided upon out of those fields, or large enough that it needs to be decided by the five of us, shall be done so in a vote during our monthly meetings," Birch added.

"And the commoners shall all have their say too!" Archie bellowed.

"Yes, issues raised by the common citizens of our region shall also be discussed within our meetings, and if necessary, voted upon."

"We shall all sign this declaration, henceforth declaring us as the ruling authorities of Hoenn," Cozmo chirped in, pulling a sheet of paper from his pocket.

"With you as our witness," Roxanne spoke to Cecilia.

Cecilia nodded, as pens made scurrying and scratching noises upon the paper as it was passed hastily around the table, before landing at Cecilia for her to sign the section declaring her as witness.

"So what now for you?" Archie asked as she scribbled her signature. "Back to becoming a researcher?"

"No," she replied. "I am a trainer now, time to get my licence back."

"And challenge the Gyms in Hoenn?" Flannery excitedly interrupted.

"There is one more thing we need to do," Roxanne intruded before Cecilia could reply.

"Yes there is!" Archie bellowed, standing up from his chair. "Time for war!" he added, slamming his fists on the table.

"War with Kanto will bring us noth-" Cozmo began before Roxanne silenced him with a scolding stare.

"We shall take Team Rocket down in their own home!" Birch added passionately. At the professor's words, Flannery screamed in agreement.

"I shall lead our army into Kanto," Archie declared. "Give me a couple of months to gather willing recruits, Mylos and Grant shall be my lieutenants. Cecilia, will you be my right hand girl?"

"No, two months is too long to wait for me."

"So what's your plan?" the former Aqua Leader enquired.

"Erik's plan," Cecilia corrected him.

* * *

"So with the reforms of our government," Wally's television set blared. "The promises of more openness, honesty and interaction from our new leadership have been made," Gabby added, speaking into Ty's camera and filling the screen.

"But what of our new Champion, Erik?" Gabby added. "Since winning the Pokemon League Tournament eight days ago, no one has heard a peep from him. But myself and my colleague have now been promised exclusive access to our new Champion. Find out more at six o'clock, this has been Gabby and Ty on your four o'clock news."

"What do you think, Gallade?" Wally asked his friend, who sat on his uncle's couch beside him. "Time for us to leave?"

His Pokemon nodded in response. The young man clutched his trainer's licence in the palm of his hand and wheeled a suitcase along the floor with the other.

A tearful farewell followed between nephew and uncle, before Wally made his way from Verdanturf, through Rusturf Tunnel, passed Rustboro City, exiting Petalburg Woods and after a brief detour to Petalburg City to say goodbye to his parents, the young trainer made his way towards the beach of Route 104.

"Gallade?" Wally turned to his Pokemon as the two strolled along the scorched beach of Route 104, sand happily flicking up at their feet. The clean-up effort made by dozens of citizens from within Petalburg had been a success, and only a few mementos remained from what the people now dubbed as "The Battle For Hoenn". Wally's Pokemon purred in response to his trainer's question.

"Where we are going, I'm not going to be able to use you. But I want you to be by my side still, forever."

The defeat to Erik had at first crushed Wally, who spent the proceeding week loitering around the graves of his defeated Pokemon, pondering what to do with his life, his accomplishments amounting to nothing. However, the day before yesterday he had received a call on his PokeNav from the reigning Champion, asking to meet on Route 104 and to board Mr. Briney's boat.

Wally looked to the sea, where a pearl-white yacht floated gently on the water's surface, swaying in the waves as a crisp wind swept across the shoreline. Gabby and Ty stood on the ship, alongside the old sailor himself, the trio immersed in conversation. At the ship's stern stood Erik and Cecilia, both peering off into the ocean that awaited them.

* * *

"Nice of you to join us," Cecilia called to Wally, as the young man climbed on the ship. "Are we ready to leave then?" she asked Mr. Briney.

"Erik?" the old sailor asked the Champion, who shook his head at the question.

"There's one more thing I must do, alone," he responded, before strolling to the ship's brow, away from judging eyes and into isolation.

His soul felt empty as he ran his fingers along the Pokeball-less strap across his waist before resting his arms on the yacht's prow. He had released the Pokemon in his storage back into the wild, to return to their homes as he prepared to return to his own. Kanto awaited, and Pokemon caught outside of the region's borders were unable to be used in battle.

Erik peered into the calm waters, sighting Tentacool swimming lazily within as he recalled his journey. From a young boy alongside Blaze in the back of a truck, to the Champion of Hoenn standing here by himself. Despite being surrounded by friends and even his mother within the boat's cabin, who had insisted on journeying back to Kanto with them, he still felt helplessly alone.

"Blaze, May, Dancer, Ice, Leaf," he began, recalling all those that had been lost along the way in a sorrowful recollection of memories. He had forgiven himself during the battle with Steven, conquering the demons who dwelled within himself, but loneliness still haunted him. "Dad…" he finished his prayer. "I've learned so much throughout my journey, and we all conquered Hoenn together." He moved his hand to his heart. "I know you're all with me, in here. When we all go back to Kanto I shall form a resistance to Giovanni and his gang. Rocket controls the region and have enforced the same trainer rules as in Hoenn, one Pokemon per route, no killing wild Pokemon needlessly and so on and so on. It will be tough, rallying Hoenn is only a mere footprint in the sand compared to what awaits us, but I know with you all in my heart, we shall succeed."

As the sun descended and a chill took to the air, Erik signalled for Mr. Briney to begin their journey towards Kanto. With a final glance at Hoenn as the island disappeared from view, Erik joined Cecilia, Wally and his mother in the cabin.

To Be Continued In….. Challenger: Return to Kanto.


End file.
